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Fight Club

“The novel has provided filmmakers with an abundance of material to transform from the written word to visually engaging movies over the years. There are however fundamental difference between the two mediums which make this transference's from one to the other quiet problematic. Using an example of a film adapted from a novel, describe both the advantages and the disadvantages inherent in the transfer of a film from medium to the other.”

Novels, plays and even comic books have formed the basis for screenplays from the early days of cinema to today. The depth and breadth of the characters and plots have provided scope for filmmakers to create an engaging and thought provoking raft of films by converting them from one medium to the other. This year’s academy award nominations for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ included some of the biggest films of the year; Brokeback Mountain, Capote, The Constant Gardener, A History of Violence and Munich with Brokeback Mountain the eventual winner. Based on a short story by Annie Proux it was arguably one of the most talked about films of the year.

Statistics claim that of all published novels approximately 2% are purchased for film options and of these only about 2% will make it to the screen. The most successful of the adaptations include films such as ‘Gone with the Wind’ by Margaret Mitchell, ‘East of Eden’ by John Steinbeck, ‘The Godfather’ by Mario Puzo and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ By Ken Kesey. In Recent times it seems that every film coming from director Ron Howard was once a bestseller most notably his latest blockbuster, ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Although not yet released the hype and controversy surrounding it is gaining momentum and it remains to be seen what will come from what is arguably a mediocre novel.