Note: I have now given up
on attempting to do lists of ten favourites. Fifteen (or seventeen) is a far
more reasonable number. Yes I do have problems making decisions.
So, last week a new film adaptation came out of Thomas Hardy’s brilliant novel, Far From the Madding Crowd. Before I go and see it in the cinema, I do I thought I’d take a look back at some of my all time favourite book to screen adaptations. This is obviously not a comprehensive list in any way. The oldest one is from 1998 and the majority are adaptations of nineteenth century novels. But they’re a handful of adaptations that I really love.
Apologies for the quantity of Austen and Dickens. I’m sorry. I can’t help myself.
So, last week a new film adaptation came out of Thomas Hardy’s brilliant novel, Far From the Madding Crowd. Before I go and see it in the cinema, I do I thought I’d take a look back at some of my all time favourite book to screen adaptations. This is obviously not a comprehensive list in any way. The oldest one is from 1998 and the majority are adaptations of nineteenth century novels. But they’re a handful of adaptations that I really love.
Apologies for the quantity of Austen and Dickens. I’m sorry. I can’t help myself.
I’ve put this first
as I feel it’s a slight cheat. Obviously it’s a very loose adaptation, and has
been more inspired by the original Sherlock Holmes stories than adapted from
then. I should also admit that I’m not very well versed on the original stories;
I’ve only actually listened to a couple on audiobook. However, this is such a
great program I wanted to mention it. Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu are
brilliant, and I’ve been so impressed by how Elementary manages to be different
from BBC’s Sherlock, although they both bring Sherlock Holmes into the present day. They
manage to sustain episode upon episode with these brilliant mysteries, and the
relationship between Sherlock Holmes and (Dr. Joan) Watson is really engaging. I’m half way through the first series and it is just so thoroughly well done.
I saw this film quite recently after having read (and reviewed) the novel last year. I love the
film. It looks wonderful, and is such a clever feat of cinema, making the
stories intersect and slot together in a very clever way. The acting is great
and each world well created. The reason why it’s not higher on this list is
that I think the film is telling a telling a slightly different story to the
novel. The film is more obviously moralistic in its ending, and if the book
tells the story of one soul moving through time, the film seems to tell the
story of multiple souls. However, I acknowledge that the book’s structure
wouldn’t quite work in film, and what they do here instead does work, and works
excellently.
And I’m not going to
include the 1995 BBC series either. Now I should make it clear that I do love
both, but I have a particular soft spot for this adaptation, especially because
a lot of people dismiss it. And I know it’s less close to the book, but in a
two hour film obviously you can’t fit in as much as in a six hour series. So yes, the beginning goes too fast and yes, Lizzy Bennet is frequently seen outside without a bonnet (how scandalous), but to me, this film captures the heart and essence of Pride and Prejudice. It’s less clean than the older series, and
presents a more down to earth interpretation of the book. Yes Colin Firth gets
across the pride of Mr Darcy, but Matthew Macfadyen gets across his social
awkwardness as well, and the chemistry between him and Kiera Knightley as Lizzy
Bennet is brilliant. And I like Kiera Knightley. It’s always bewildered
me why people take so much against her. Besides that we have Judi Dench playing Lady Catherine
de Bourgh, and there are several truly superb scenes: the Netherfield ball, Mr Collin’s proposal, that beautiful bit near the end where Mr Bingley’s rehearsing with Mr Darcy... I just love it.
14.
Little Dorrit (2008)
I love Little Dorrit the book, and it’s one of
Dickens’s underrated ones – so to see it adapted for TV with such a brilliant cast
was so exciting for me at the time. The series looks perfect and the script is
(mostly) great. Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit is fabulous and Matthew Macfadyen (of
course) makes a brilliant Arthur Clennam. There were some other
fabulous more minor performances, such as Russel Tovey as John Chivery, James
Fleet as Frederick Dorrit, and Ruth Jones as a hilarious Flora Finching. I love
how this adaptation is split into half hour episodes; it suits Dickens’s stories,
which were after all written to be serialised. It gets the humour so often
missed out of Dickens screen adaptations, and it gets the poignancy too. It
would be so much further up this list if it wasn’t for the simple fact that
they utterly ruined the end. The reveal in the final episode is bizarrely and
bewilderingly just the wrong reveal. I think Andrew Davies, the screenplay
writer (who I generally have a massive respect for) was trying to simplify a
Dickensianly complex ending, but it resulted in a weird confusing one that
just didn’t work. The final episode infuriated me – but the fact that I’ve
still put it on this list shows just how much I love the rest.
It’s been a while
since I saw this one, but it’s a great adaptation of a great novel. The story
focuses on race relations in Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War,
and is so well captured in this adaptation. Ruth Wilson as Queenie is
as always superb and Naomie Harris as Hortense is brilliant. The series also
features the talented David Oyelowo as Gilbert, and Benedict Cumberbatch as
Bernard, in those days before every man and his dog knew his name. As I recall
it does cut a substantial proportion of Bernard’s story from the novel, but
it’s nonetheless a well shot, well directed and just well adapted series that I
really enjoyed.
12.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012-13) and 11. Emma Approved (2014)

Yes I know they don’t
do the books justice, and yes I know they miss out some brilliant characters
and some brilliant scenes, and yes I know that some of the acting of one or two
younger members of the cast is a little wooden at times – but I still really
love the Harry Potter films. Watching them is not only like capturing a magical
bit of childhood, but also like seeing all the most talented British actors in
one place. The films have everyone from Timothy Spall to Maggie Smith, from
Alan Rickman to David Tennant, from Helena Bonham Carter to Richard Griffiths.
There is just so much talent in these films. And the actors age across the
films; we literally see these characters grow up. It’s wonderful.
Another brilliant
Austen adaptation. As always with screenplays written by the amazing Sandy
Welch, I love that we get so many conversations lifted straight from the book,
that Welch keeps Austen’s words in tact. Romola Garai is a brilliant Emma and
Jonny Lee Miller is to me the perfect Mr Knightley (especially in all those glorious floral waistcoats). The adaptation is well paced and looks perfect, and I like that
they keep so much of Emma’s relationship with her father, which sometimes gets
a little left out. The characters are for me done just right, and the ending is
simply beautiful.
Adapted from Evelyn
Waugh’s Vile Bodies, and written and
directed by Stephen Fry, this film is just wonderful. It’s so fun, so lively,
so brilliant and sad, capturing that muddle of emotions and hurry of life just as the
book does. It has a great cast, highlights including Emily Mortimer as Nina and
Fenella Woolgar as Agatha –and the music and costumes and just the whole look
of the film is spot on. Admittedly Stephen Fry does take a rather big liberty
with the story’s ending, but for me it actually really works. I’m not sure
Evelyn Waugh would entirely approve - but I do.
This is my absolute
favourite Austen adaptation of all time, even though Sense and Sensibility is not my favourite Austen novel, love it as
I do. This series has what the 1995 film does in terms of liveliness and romance
but with something else – a sense of the characters’ youth and of the darkness
in their lives. And they get Wiloughby and Marianne’s relationship perfect. It
has a brilliant cast, and David Morrissey (more on him shortly) is spectacular as Colonel Brandon. I like what they do with Margaret’s character, and
there’s some beautifully tender moments between Eleanor and Edward. Hattie
Morahan does Eleanor’s emotional repression so well. And Clare Skinner as Fanny
Dashwood is deliciously horrible and thoroughly perfect.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s
dystopian novel, about the lives of three clones bred for organ donations, is
one of my favourite books. And the film just does it justice. It’s beautifully
shot, well structured, and keeps so much of the raw humanity and sorrow of the
book. The performances throughout the film are superb, by both the adults and
the child actors. How on earth they managed to find children who were both such
brilliant actors and look so like the adults playing their characters later amazes
me. Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield really capture the
characters. The film resonates with the same superb poignancy as the book.
This is probably the
most epic book to screen adaptation I know of, and it’s truly brilliant. It
takes Dickens’s lengthy and brilliant novel and, like the 2008 Little Dorrit,
adapts it into fifteen half hour episodes. This structure really allows them to
explore the characters and the feel of the book, to get the humour and the
misery. Naturally they still have to make a lot of cuts, but the adaptation is so strong, that I forgive it. Denis Lawson is the perfect Mr Jarndyce,
Anna Maxwell Martin and Carey Mulligan arebrilliant as Esther and Ada, and then of
course Gillian Anderson is wonderful as always as Lady Dedlock. Charles Dance
captures the sinister Mr Tulkinghorn with such utter skill and Burn Gorman is
the perfect Mr Guppy. Genuinely every performance in this adaptation is just right. I think Dickens would be proud.
This miniseries has a
lot to answer for. I watched it with my parents when I was thirteen, and found
the first episode so exciting that my mum told me to read the book. So I went and read the whole book before the
second episode, just to find out what happened. And thus began my love of nineteenth
century literature. But anyway, it’s a brilliant series. Ruth Wilson is as ever
wonderful and I can’t fault Toby Stephen’s Mr Rochester. It’s engaging,
exciting, creepy, cleverly done, and the adaptation just looks right; the colour scheme of it all, muted grey with the odd
touch of red – it’s so powerful. The screenplay was written by Sandy Welch (who also adapted the 2009 Emma, and two other adaptations in my top five).
What I love about adaptations written by her is that even when larger plot cuts
have to be made, she keeps so many of the original dialogue intact. Frequently
we get Jane and Rochester’s brilliant exchanges word for word as they are in
the novel. It really feels like Sandy Welch respects and loves the novels she’s
adapting.
I must have seen this
series (all six hours of it) well over ten times. Possibly twenty. This is
partly because it’s an adaptation of my favourite novel ever, but also because
it’s brilliant. And yes one of my favourite subplots is lost to the ether of
cutting and yes, I have no idea why they cast my favourite character Jenny Wren
as an adult when she’s supposed to be about thirteen – but I forgive this
adaptation what faults it has because it is so superbly beautiful. It
demonstrates what a wonderful novel this is and shows off the weirdly wonderful
plot and its brilliant characters to perfection. The very way it’s filmed, the
contrast between bright society scenes and the dark of the river, so captures
the atmosphere of the novel. As with the Jane Eyre adaptation, Sandy Welch’s
brilliant script honours the book and keeps so much of the original dialogue. The
acting is brilliant, and most of the characters for me interpreted just right. David
Morrissey’s Bradley Headstone is an absolutely perfect performance of one my
absolute favourite literary characters ever.
I have a confession
to make. Unusually for me, I saw and loved this film long before I read the
book. I actually only read it a few weeks ago; I’ve been meaning to for years, and while thinking through ideas for this blog post, I decided it was about time I read it. I also have another
terrible confession to make: unusually, I actually prefer the film to the book.
That’s not to say that I don’t love the novel too; there are some brilliantly
poignant passages and some lovely writing in it, and it’s a great read. But I
simply adore the film. To me the film takes the characters and essence of a
good and intriguing novel and makes it into a masterly brilliant film. It’s not
an adaptation that follows the book exactly, scene by scene, chapter by
chapter. It takes liberties, adds in whole storylines, combines places and
characters – but for me it really works. The acting is wonderful; it looks brilliant,
and we really get this sense of storytelling and jokes, of never quite knowing
what’s true and what’s not. The film reflects the spirit of the book, if not
always the exact plot – and that’s the most important thing for me. It’s a
bizarre and beautiful film and I love it.
But my favourite
screen adaptation of all has to be this. I love Gaskell’s North and South, and the TV series just does it so well. It’s shot
brilliantly and the scenes of the mills are just incredible. Again Sandy Welch has
written a brilliant script. I’ll admit that there are a few plot changes I
dislike, especially with regards to the first time Margaret sees Mr Thornton
and with regards to Mr Bell – but I can overlook them because the rest of the
adaptation is so brilliant, so moving, so powerful. The soundtrack is gorgeous.
Daniela Denby-Ashe is brilliant as Margaret Hale, and Richard Armitage gets Mr
Thornton’s awkwardness and repressed passion just right. Sinead Cusack is a
perfect Mrs Thornton and Lesley Manville’s Maria Hale is so moving and so well
done. It’s such a lovely and beautiful adaptation and every time I watch it I
can’t fail to be moved.
Next week: I’ll be reviewing Carrie Hope Fletcher’s All I Know Now
My friend has been persuading me to watch Elementary for ages now since she knows that Natalie Dormer is my favourite actress of all time. Sadly, I haven’t gotten around to it yet but I can definitely say that I’m going to download it as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI also have a soft spot for the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (the girl who played Lydia was a hoot) but aesthetically speaking, the 2005 film version takes the bag. Kiera Knightley is such an amazing actress and I don’t get all the hate that’s being directed at her.
Duh, Harry Potter! The soundtrack alone is perfect!
Have you watched the 2012 Anna Karenina film? It didn’t really stay true to the book but if you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice (2005) then I think Anna Karenina will be your cup of tea too. Keira Knightley plays the main character too!
Do you mind if I do a post like this on my blog as well? I’ll credit you and everything. :)
Well I definitely recommend Elementary, and I'm glad to find another who shares my love of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. Sadly I haven't seen Anna Karenina yet - I really want to, because it's got such a great cast and the trailer looked amazing. But I haven't had the time to read the book yet and I want to read that first. Hopefully I'll get round to both soon.
DeleteI would be absolutely delighted if you did a post like this too - it's lovely to think you want to use the idea as well. And if you could credit me with a link that would of course be brilliant too :)
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