Musings on Movie/Book Relations

I saw Prince Caspian (the movie) earlier this week, and it got me thinking about the relationship between books and movie adaptations thereof (not for the first time, and almost certainly not for the last, either). Minor spoilers follow.

My impressions of the film can be summed up thusly: It was a pretty good movie, but it wasn't Prince Caspian. When the editors put the words "based on the novel by C. S. Lewis" in the opening credits, they forgot to add the words "very loosely." The cast of characters is about the same, at least as far as names go, and there are some parallels in the plot, but that's about it. Personalities were changed, scenes were removed, new scenes were inserted, and themes were twisted. Some of these changes were understandable, and the movie worked fairly well taken by itself, but this is not Lewis's version of Narnia. (For some specific examples and very good commentary, check out Jared's Moviegoings entry.)

In fact, I saw almost as many parallels with the Lord of the Rings movies as with the Caspian book. Let's play Guess the Movie By the Scene, shall we?

1) Rider on horseback is chased by a handful of other riders. The chase moves over plain and through forest, eventually reaching a river, where the pursuers are swept away. Fellowship of the Ring or Prince Caspian? (Answer: Both of the above)

2) Long-haired archer stabs an enemy with an arrow, then proceeds to shoot another enemy with the same arrow. Said archer fights like a demon in close-quarters combat as well as at range. Lord of the Rings or Prince Caspian? (Answer: Both of the above)

3) An army of living trees lays waste to the evil army that has deforested the land and oppressed the heroes. The Two Towers or Prince Caspian? (Answer: Both of the above. Are you seeing a pattern here?)

4) Dramatic, sweeping aerial shots of unusual siege weapons bombarding Fort Good Guys. Return of the King or Prince Caspian? (Answer: You get the idea)

My mixed feelings for the movie are exemplified in one scene in particular: I was very disappointed by the "raising the White Witch" scene; not only was it not in the book, I don't think it added anything worthwhile to the film (and Lucy should not be a knife-fighter, it's just wrong). However, given that the scene was there, I was quite pleased that Edmund was the one to drive the Witch away. The reference to his doing something similar at the beginning of the movie was a nice touch, if a bit predictable.

In an interesting coincidence, I've just finished reading The Jungle Book for the first time. Before this week, my only exposure to the work was from the animated Disney film of that name. This is the first time (that I can recall) that I have experienced the derivation prior to the inspiration, and it's a bit of an odd feeling. I always liked the Disney version (indeed, I still enjoy many of the older Disney cartoons), but it's almost as different from Kipling's book as Disney's Caspian is from Lewis's. Nearly all of the characters' personalities are completely different. (Movie-Baloo is a goofy clown, while Book-Baloo is a wise teacher; Movie-Shere Kahn is intimidating and frightening, while Book-Shere Kahn is lame, cowardly, and in many ways the laughingstock of the Jungle.) The plot has almost more new material than original. But the film works, despite the "unfaithfulness" (and I still love the vultures, even if they aren't in the book).

In the end, what these experiences have done is reaffirm the conclusion that I reached around the time of the film version of The Two Towers: Comparing books and their movie adaptations (or movies and their book adaptations) can make for entertaining dinner conversation, but one just can't expect much in the way of correspondence. The best we can hope for (but I think we can expect this) is that the adaptation will stay true to the spirit and themes of the original.

These two different media are just too different.



(Ah, it feels good to do a real post for a change. :-p)

One Down, 3+ To Go

As of this afternoon, I have completed my first year as a grad student. Only three more to go.

I'll post some more amusing professor quotes--and maybe personal reflections--later. For now, I need a nap.