Adaptation of Novels Into Films (BODY)

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Adaptation of novels into films

Of the studies, 4 studies show that adaptation from novels into films has an impact on the

audience. These studies were conducted by Mertz (1!4", #ur$ess (1!%", &arrin$ton (1!!",'helehan ())*",

Accordin$ to +hristian Mertz (1!4", f ilm tells us continuous stories it -says- thin$s that could be

conveyed also in the lan$ua$e of words yet it says them differently. There is a reason for the

possibility as well as for the necessity of adaptations.

n Anthony #ur$ess/s (1!%" cynical view, 0very best2sellin$ novel has to be turned into a film,

the assumption bein$ that the boo3 itself whets an appetite for the true fulfilment22the verbal

shadow turned into li$ht, the word made flesh.

Accordin$ to 5ohn &arrin$ton(1!!", in his boo3 6ilm And7s Art, indicated that a third of all

films ever made have been adapted from novels, and, if you included other literary forms, such

as drama or short stories, that estimate mi$ht well be *% percent or more. 8early all of the wor3sof classic literature students study in hi$h school have been adapted for film9some many times

and in multiple lan$ua$es, settin$s, or formats.

Accordin$ to melda 'helehan ())*", adaptations of the literary sources into films are

fre:uently seen in recent wor3s. Adaptations of literary wor3s re$ardin$ deconstructin$ the

structure or the ori$inality of the literary te;t chan$e the order of the se:uences or alter the

written te;t into an illusionary scene. The chan$es made in the written form of the literary te;tintend to e;press the director/s perception of the events addin$ to the te;t/s meanin$.

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Accordin$ to =eor$e #luestone (1%!", which is one of the first critics to study film adaptations

of literature, the filmma3er is an independent artist, 0not a translator for an established author,

but a new author in his own ri$ht.

A film is not >ust an illustrated version of the boo3. t is a totally different medium. 'hen

adaptin$ the novel, the filmma3er has to leave out a number of thin$s for the very simple reason

of time difference and because the medium is different. On the other hand, thin$s can be (andoften must be" added to the film because the medium re:uires it, or because they will be more

effective on the screen. ?i3e a translator, the filmma3er who adapts is bent on a doubletas3@ some sort of 0fidelity to the ori$inal wor3 and creation of a new wor3 of art in a differentmedium. (&utcheon, ))*"

Accordin$ to +hristian Metz (1!!", the reader /will not always find his film, since what he has

before him in the actual film is now somebody else/s fantasy. espite the uncertainty of



$ratification, of findin$ audiovisual ima$es that will coincide with their conceptual ima$es,

reader2viewers persist in providin$ audiences for /somebody else/s fantasy. There is also a

curious sense that the verbal account of the people, places, and ideas that ma3e up much of the

appeal of novels is simply one renderin$ of a set of e;istents which mi$ht >ust as easily be

rendered in another.

There are three main reasons a filmma3er or screenwriter mi$ht ma3e ma>or chan$es in adaptin$

a literary wor3 to film. One is simply the chan$es demanded by a new medium. 6ilm and

literature each have their own tools for manipulatin$ narrative structure. n a novel, a newchapter mi$ht ta3e us bac3 to a different time and place in the narrative in a film, we mi$ht $o

bac3 to that same time and place throu$h the use of a flashbac3, a crosscut, or a dissolve, such as

the various techni:ues the filmma3ers.

Andrew avies (B#C, masterpiece" understands all too well the third main reason for a

filmma3er to ma3e dramatic chan$es to an adaptation, and it is one that anyone who wor3s on a

Masterpiece classic is motivated by@ how to ma3e a classic story 0new for a contemporaryaudience.

Accordin$ to Michael &au$e ()1)", if you/re writin$ an adaptation, no other story form hasthese same re:uirements. 8ovels, plays and true stories, for e;ample, can follow multiple

characters throu$h lon$ e;panses of time as they pursue a series of desires. Their $oals can be

interior 2 a desire for acceptance, for e;ample, or to resolve some inner pain >ust by livin$throu$h it.

n 8ovel to 6ilm, an ntroduction to the Theory of Adaptation , #rian Mc6arlane (1*" citesthree reasons for the study of adaptation bein$ Dinhibited and blurredE. They are, Dthe issue of

fidelityE, a dependence on Dindividual, impressionistic sense (of the" te;tE, and the sense of Dthe

novelEs supremacyE.



Feferences@

melda 'helehan@ DAdaptations. The contemporary dilemmasE, in eborah +artmell and melda'helehan (eds", Adaptations. 6rom te;t to screen, screen to te;t, ?ondon ))*, pp. G21.

?inda &utcheon@ A Theory of Adaptation, 8ew Hor3 ))*, pp. I2I.

#rian Mc6arlane +larendon Bress, 1*, O;ford Jniversity Bress

=eor$e #luestone. Novels into Film (Jniversity of +alifornia Bress@ #er3eley and ?os An$eles, 1%!",

p.1.

+hristian Metz, The Imaginary Signifier (ndiana Jniversity Bress@ #loomin$dale, 1!!", p. 1.

Anthony #ur$ess, -/On the &opelessness of Turnin$ =ood #oo3s into 6ilms/-, New York Times, ) Apr

1!%, p. 1%.

+hristian Metz, Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema, trans. Michael Taylor (O;ford Jniversity

Bress@ 8ew Hor3, 1!4", p. 44.

Andrew avis, [email protected]$7w$bh7masterpiece7learnin$resources7fic<adaptation.html

&arrin$ton, 5ohn (1!!". Brentice2 &all nc., n$lewood cliffs.

http@77filmadaptation.:writin$.:c.cuny.edu7files7)17)K7

&au$e, Michael ()1)". [email protected]*2michael2hau$es2rules2for2adaptation

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Adaptation of Novels Into Films (BODY)