[Lalwendë]

If you're going to adapt a work of literature do it properly

I've yet to see a film based on a work of literature which was done perfectly. I think this has something to do with the conflicting natures of literature and film; alas I was not listening in my critical theory lectures so I don't have the necessary theorems to explain this in that way, but I suspect it could have something to do with intertextuality.

Atempting to explain by way of example, consider that this was only the second attempt to film LoTR. There have been many film versions of other works - e.g. Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights - none of which, in my opinion have been perfect. This has not always diminished my enjoyment of those films, though it quickly made me realise that to ever see a perfect version of my favourite book was very likely an impossibility; therefore seeing the films as they were made, I was pleasantly surprised, even if I still can't accept the portrayal of Aragorn.

Hollywood is also quite a lazy beast and there is a tendency to adapt pre-existing works rather than make a 'pure film'; when a film is based on an 'original' concept then it is a very different product. You only have to look at the fan worship surrounding such 'pure films' as Star Wars, Donnie Darko and The Matrix. When Hollywood adapts pre-exisitng works it so often gets it very wrong. A good example of this is comic book adaptations. I am told that many are so completely wrong that it is not worth seeing them - not that I have much knowledge of comic books beyond Beano.

Earlier I mentioned fantasy works which do reflect the disturbing nature of the 'real' world. In between many rounds of stress this afternoon I managed to give this some thought. I mentioned Gormenghast - which is a critique of red tape, hierarchical structures, and the class system. When I was younger I read this as a simple if gothic fantasy - now I am in civil servitude I understand it on a deeply satirical level (especially today... ). Many 'Downers do not seem to like His Dark materials very much, but it provides grown-up comment on the nature of religion and of democracy; and this is one book I shudder to think of being made into a film, as I am convinced it will be wrong.