5 Film Adaptations That Live Up to the Books

More often that not, when the film adaptation of a beloved book arrives in cinemas, it is met with disappointment from fans. The reasons for this are often debated, but it seems to stem from the fact that is is almost impossible to cram a four hundred page book into a 120 minute screenplay. As a result of this, films often remove large chunks of narrative, and sometimes remove entire characters all together.

This being said, there are still several examples of film adaptations that are equally as good as the original book. In this article, I will list five excellent film adaptations.

1. 'Gerald's Game'

When it comes to creating fear within a reader, Stephen King seems to be in a league of his own. From IT to Cell to Misery, it seems that he can transform any setting or scenario into the stuff of nightmares. When it comes to the film adaptations, most have underwhelmed. The most recent example of this being Pet Semetary, a film that never managed to capture the creepy and unsettling tone of the book, and instead resorted to jump scares.

Gerald's Game however is unlike most Stephen King books. It is a toned down, simplistic horror story, with a truly terrifying villain. When the film was announced, people were not worried about fitting all the book in, they were worried about whether the book would be enough for the films run-time. When the film arrived on Netflix however, it became clear that there was no reason to worry.

Jessie's deteriorating mental state is shown incredibly through conversations between the real Jessie and a version of both herself and Gerald that she has created in her head. Much like the book, the horror comes through not knowing what is real and what Jessie is hallucinating. As for the villain, all I can say is that the moonlight man is truly terrifying. When I first read about him in the book, I created this monstrous image in my own head, and I was certain that the film could not match this. Somehow, the film actually managed to surpass my expectations, and create one of the most horrifying villains I have seen in any recent film.

2. 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'

Whilst the first Hunger Games film was good, and the last two were not so good, Catching Fire was exceptional. The second film in the franchise was the only one that seemed to truly understand its characters and the complex relationships between them.

Katniss is arguably the best female action hero since Lara Croft, and in this film we really come to understand her. She is totally family driven, and that is shown to us in the opening of this film, as she pretends to be in love with Peeta in order to protect her family. Her feelings for Peeta grow subtly as the film progresses, and by the time the cliffhanger ending arrives, there is no doubt in the audience's mind that these two characters belong together.

It is in the action scenes however, where this film truly captures the heart of the book. The arena is exactly as described in the book, and so too are the new characters. The arena ambush scene totally embodies the tension of the book, the constant terror of knowing that at any minute you could be attacked, and the only way to defend yourself is to take a life. It also highlighted the emotional strain of forming bonds with your fellow tributes, because no matter how close you become, you cannot all make it out of the arena alive.

3. 'The Spectacular Now'

The Spectacular Now is actually the rare example of a film that is arguably better than the book that it is based on. A large part of this is down to the performances of Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley, who bring the characters to life in a way that the book was just not able to match.

Miles Teller's Sutter in particular, is a much more likable character in the book, one who's addiction problems and personal demons make you want him to succeed more than anything. In the book however, Sutter often comes across as arrogant and spoiled and his behaviour is much more questionable. Sometimes it takes an incredible actor to really bring the best out of a character and Miles Teller fit this character seamlessly.

Another aspect of the book that the film took and strengthened, was Sutter's relationship with his father. Although this admittedly makes his relationship with his sister less important to the plot of the film, that however, is a sacrifice worth making. The scene where Sutter takes Amy to meet his father, and he turns out to be an alcoholic without any concern for his son, is truly heartbreaking, and in my opinion is the films strongest scene.

4. 'Forrest Gump'

There isn't a lot I can say about Forrest Gump that hasn't already been said. It truly is a perfect film, in every sense of the word. And it's almost hard to believe that in the book, Forrest stumbles into the middle of more huge events, but he does. These are not however, all particularly interesting or relevant of Forrest's overall goal: which is to make Jenny happy.

Like The Spectacular Now, this is a film that makes its characters more likable than they were in the book. But with that, the relationship between Forrest and Jenny is much stronger in the film. I would actually say that the relationship between Forrest and Jenny is the most romantic relationship ever seen on film.

Unlike the book, the film manages to streamline many of the events that Forrest experiences, and therefore instead of feeling bloated, these scenes flow quickly and we jump from one year to the next without ever pausing. With this, we are allowed to laugh with Forrest, cry with Forrest and support Forrest without ever becoming bored or uninterested, and the same cannot be said for the book.

5. 'Room'

There aren't many books much harder to adapt than Room. The book covers: kidnapping, rape, attempted suicide, and depression, and it's written from the perspective of a five year old boy. This being said, Room is a truly beautiful film that lives up to the best-selling novel.

Taking the incredible performances aside, although Brie Larson truly deserved her Oscar, it is actually the cinematography of this film that truly captures the spirit of the book. The camera always keeps us aligned with Jack, and we experience everything as he does. This creates the same bond between the character and the audience that was created in the book.

What's most impressive however, is that no matter how bleak the book gets. Be that Joy's father rejecting Jack upon their escape, or Joy not being able to adapt to live outside of room, the film never loses hope. And that of course comes from the fact that we are experiencing all of this through the eyes of a child. And although he may not understand everything that's happening around him, he knows that things are bad, but he never loses his hope that things will get better.

With these films in mind, there's no reason to abandon hope that your favourite book will never be adapted into an excellent film. Yes, it may be difficult to adapt a book into a film, but when it works, the results are spectacular.