5 Films That Were Better Than The Book

It’s a truth fairly universally acknowledged that film adaptations of novels hardly ever live up to their source material: the recent Pride and Prejudice (2005), for instance, the 1956 Moby Dick or Steve Coogan’s A Cock and Bull Story (2005). That is not to say that all film adaptations of books are bad. On the contrary, all three of the above are excellent, particularly A Cock and Bull Story, a valiant effort to adapt The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a novel the key elements of which are its constant digressions, anecdotes and non-sequiturs.

Very occasionally, however, an adaptation succeeds in surpassing, or at least rivalling, its source material. Undoubtedly, this is an easier task if the original work is relatively unknown. It was news to me, for example, that Full Metal Jacket (1987), The Exorcist (1973), The Godfather (1972) and Psycho (1960) are all adaptations. Consequently, this list is limited to adaptations of novels that are relatively famous and are, at least by some, considered ‘classics’ of their genre.

AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000), Bit of a controversial one this but unless you’re a fan of intense sadistic sexual violence described in minute detail, interspersed with intentionally shallow odes to various aspects of 80s culture, the book is, frankly, a bit much. The film retains the atmosphere and message of the text, anchored on the terrifying and hilarious performance of Christian Bale, without your having to read about someone doing things that really shouldn’t be done to decapitated heads.

THE INNOCENTS (1961), Based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. While the book is a an eerie masterpiece and, like A Christmas Carol, a great example of the Victorian tradition of Christmas ghost stories, the prose is sometimes slow and ponderous (more so than other books of the period). However, the film is quite simply one of the scariest you will ever see, without shedding a single drop of blood or anything eventful really happening at all. It also embellishes the book’s sexual undertones for a deeply uncomfortable and harrowing watch.

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), While The Innocents updates some of the themes of its Victorian source material, Apocalypse Now goes a step further and updates the entire setting of Joseph Conrad’s A Heart of Darkness from the Belgian Congo to the Vietnam War. The switch retains the spirit of the book and the points it makes while bringing it home to a modern audience for whom the horrors of Belgian colonialism are not commonly known. Marlon Brando’s terrifying performance as Kurtz (a performance for which he refused to wear trousers, owing to the fact that he was gradually going mad) has to be seen to be believed. That said, you probably should read the book as well.

THE SHINING (1980), Stephen King hated Kubrick’s adaptation of his book so much that it inspired him to produce his own (by comparison rubbish) mini-series version. While heavily altering source material (Troy being perhaps the worst offender) suggests a certain arrogance on the part of the director, it’s simply undeniable that the film of The Shining is one of the greatest works of its genre, ever. It also cuts some of the less effective parts of the book, like the hedges of the hotel coming to life and attacking people…

BLADE RUNNER (1982), This has been included on many lists of this type before, but it has to be included. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick is beloved by science-fiction fans and an excellent novel. Dick himself, however, on seeing the Blade Runner Director’s Cut (rather than the famously inferior original Theatrical Cut) was so bowled over that he didn’t just think that the film was as good as the book, he thought it was much better. High praise, and very much deserved.

By Duncan Morrison