The connection between cinema and literature is very obvious. There are many examples of famous films based on equally outstanding books. And even if it is widely believed that a film never lives up to the standards of the book it is based on, this is not always the case; on the contrary, there are outstanding film adaptations that not only stand up to comparison, but actually go down in film history. And therefore, the transition from literature to cinema for lovers of both of these forms of interpretation can even lead to pleasant discoveries.
What are the best films based on great novels? Let’s open 10 of them.
From literature to cinema: Darkness behind the hedge
The 1962 film by Robert Mulligan is based on the novel of the same name (original title). To Kill a Mockingbird) Harper Lee from 1960. Atticus Finch is the main character, played by Gregory Peck, a brave and idealistic lawyer who, in the deep south of the United States of the 1930s, marred by racial hatred and conservatism, defends a wrongly accused black man. about violence at the hands of a farmer: the racist court condemns him anyway and he tries to escape but ends up being killed.
While the novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, the film received eight Oscar nominations and won three, including Best Actor for Gregory Peck.
From literature to cinema: Leopard
A film directed by Luchino Visconti in 1963 based on the book of the same name by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, published in 1958 after a very painful editorial history due to the refusal of several publishers, before finally being published by Feltrinelli and winning the Strega Prize the following year, it , undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of Italian cinema. In May 1860, following Garibaldi’s landing at Marsala in Sicily, Don Fabrizio (played by Burt Lancaster) witnesses with melancholy the end of the aristocracy and the rise of a new social class of administrators and landowners who take advantage of the new political situation. The film received the Palme d’Or at Cannes and 3 Nastri d’Argento awards.
From literature to cinema: Finzi Contini Garden
Another masterpiece that marks the transition from literature to cinema is Finzi Contini Garden, directed by Vittorio De Sica in 1970 and adapted from the 1962 novel by Giorgio Bassani. A wealthy and high-class Jewish family from Ferrara is excluded due to racial laws from the tennis club and, more generally, from the public life of the city. Over time, the laws will become stricter: some men will go to the front, some will be captured by the Nazis, and some will be able to escape.
Bassani, after collaborating on the script and dialogue, distanced himself from the film (he apparently did not agree with some changes to the original plot), but the film was an extraordinary success and, among many awards, also received the Berlin Golden Bear in 1971 and Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1972.
From literature to cinema: The apocalypse has arrived
The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is perhaps the most interesting example of the transition from literature to cinema. Adapted from heart of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad, being one of the best films about the Vietnam War, while maintaining the fundamental framework of the novel, takes the story from colonial Congo to Vietnam during the war with the United States. During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is given a mission to reach Cambodia and kill Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando), a mad American general who has created a deviant army that worships him as a pagan deity.
The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and two Oscars: one for cinematography and one for sound.
From literature to cinema: Shine
An extraordinary masterpiece belonging to a film genre often considered second-rate, horror is without a doubt Shine Stanley Kubrick, released in 1980 as an adaptation of the 1977 novel by Stephen King, who distanced himself from it. Extraordinary and unforgettable is Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance, an unemployed teacher, a failed writer, suffering from alcoholism, who, in search of privacy and tranquility to write a new novel, moves to a hotel in Colorado to work as a security guard during the close of the tourist season. Jack has writer’s block and will become short-tempered. Shine Perhaps the best horror film in cinema history.
From literature to cinema: Small woman
The novel, Louisa May Alcut’s masterpiece that made America – and beyond – dream, has become an inspiration to many artists. The latest adaptation dates back to 2019 and boasts the likes of Emma Watson (as Meg) and Meryl Streep (as Aunt March) in the pink cast. One of the previous film adaptations was a great success: it was released in 1949, during the years of reconstruction after the war and social revenge and for women. In 1950, he won the Academy Award for Best Production Design.
From literature to cinema: Dracula
Dracula It is one of the greatest works of literature today and has been seen most often on cinema screens since it was written in 1897 by Bram Stoker. Moreover, the figure of the Count of Transylvania inspired a particular genre of fantasy and horror that revolves around the figure of the bloodthirsty vampire. Needless to say, the directors and screenwriters who decided to bring Dracula there were a lot of them in the cinema. Naturally, the most famous version is that of Francis Ford Coppola, who titled his film Bram Stoker’s Dracula without adding too many turns of phrase and sticking much closer than many others to the Irish writer’s novel.
From literature to cinema: A Clockwork Orange
Kubrick’s film is so famous that not everyone remembers that it is actually based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess. This is one of those cases where the transition from literature to cinema makes the film perhaps even more famous than the book: but on the other hand, with such a signature of Kubrick’s genius, it was completely inevitable. The one presented in A Clockwork Orange it is a society devoted to desperate violence, especially among the youth, and constant conditioning of thought. Nominated for four Oscars and exhibited at the Venice Exhibition, Kubrick’s work is considered one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces.
From literature to cinema: Rose name
An adaptation of Umberto Eco’s 1981 Strega Prize-winning novel, translated and beloved throughout the world, although it cannot compete with the richness of his work. Rose name, directed in 1986 by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is undoubtedly a fine adaptation, thanks primarily to Sean Connery’s interpretation of Frank Murray Abraham as William Baskerville’s title character (Silver Ribbon winner for Best Foreign Actor). as his antagonist Bernardo Guy and Christian Slater as the Franciscan monk Adso da Melk. The film received 3 Nastro d’Argento awards and 5 David di Donatello awards.
From literature to cinema: Lord of the Rings
Many people read Tolkien only after the release of films based on his most famous sagas, for example, the trilogy by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. Lord of the Rings Tolkien follows the adventures of hobbits, small creatures who struggle with a precious ring that they must find and then destroy because it has a very negative effect on those who own it. This is an epic novel, beloved by entire generations, an iconic example of the transition from literature to cinema. The trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, is an excellent adaptation of the book and in the most extended version it can be said that the differences with the book do not greatly change the viewer’s overall perception.
Image Source: Pixabay
