Do Good Books make Great Movies?

There is this very famous quote by Steven Spielberg, the exact words of which I don’t remember, but here is a paraphrased version of the quote, “When a director sits down to decide the script of a movie, he realizes that there are two ways of doing it. One is to make his own script. The other is to borrow one from a book. Most of the original ideas that can be used to make movies have already been used. So, I have decided to stick to the latter!”

Indeed, the man has stuck to his words there. Almost every movie of his is inspired from a book, and when I say book, I don’t necessarily mean popular fiction. For instace, “Catch Me if you Can”, brilliant movie that one, was based on a virtually unheard-of autobiography.

What about the famous books then? Spielberg managed to make a great money-spinning franchise out of “Jurassic Park”, though he did not direct the third one. One of the movies many hail as the greatest of all time, “The Godfather” is based on a book that is probably just as popular, if not more. And of course, the record-setting award-hogging trilogy by Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings”, which actually created a renewed demand for the books, which had for long been off the shelves of bookstores.

However, there are so many many books that just do not make the cut as movies. For instance we have the Da Vinci Code, the Harry Potter movies and a good many more. Then again, there are those like the Bourne series, which completely violate the books out of recognition, but somehow, seem good when viewed as movies without keeping the story of the books in mind.

From the earliest of the Technicolor times, so many books have been made into great movies, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Dr. Zhivago, Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, the James Bond franchise, the Indiana Jones series, Forrest Gump… well, the list is seemingly endless.

Finally, here’s the point I come to. The pleasure one gets from watching a great movie is one thing. The pleasure one gets from reading a good book is again altogether a totally different thing. So, when it comes to mixing the two, when the movie works, it feels totally brilliant. But when the movie is a complete dork, that’s when you feel that the book was probably a much better prospect.

So, the directors do their job – making movies and when they are made well, be it from a book or otherwise, it’s definitely a good thing, right? But all I ask is this: When a director deides to adapt a book for his movie, wouldn’t it be much better if he directs the movie just as it goes in the book without trying to use much of his “creative licence”?

Is Entertainment today just pure Mediocrity?

I was going through a list of the movies released recently in Hollywood and to my surprise found that the only ones I could find were remakes or “milk-the franchise” types or those adhering to standard formula. Nothing new. Nothing original. Nothing interesting enough to make one like to watch a movie. But wait, what am I talking about?

The recent box office records show beyond any question that movies released recently (let’s say the last two years) have set records especially in their openng weekend collections (POTC 2, Spidey 3, POTC 3, Shrek 3, HP 5…. the list goes on to reveal more such sequels an threequels and ‘anything’-quels)

So should I correct my opinion now regarding the quality of the movies released in recent times? Or is it just that we have just got used to all the mediocrity that surrounds us?

Mediocrity is a funny thing really. One minute you hate it. Then, you get used to it. Soon, you even stop bothering about it. It is similar to the Shawshank prison so wonderfully depicted in the landmark movie “The Shawshank Redemption”. The dialogue from Morgan Freeman, “The funny thing about prison is that it makes you ‘institutionalised'” perhaps applies here as well.

Believe me, when I mention mediocrity, I dont just point at Hollywood. It applies to a whole lot of other areas as well. The media, Indian movies, music, writing, books, newspapers, journalism, politics, sports performances… you name it. The “mediocrity” virus is sure to have infected the field.

Let’s take the media. I don’t need to write anything new there. A whole lot of people have mourned the death of quality journalism and yes, I believe they are perfectly correct. Just a look at the various Indian news channel will do. A list of their various atrocities, in the last one month alone, probably deserves a whole new blog!

As for Indian movies, the leser said, the better! Sivaji, they said, will come, make people see it and conquer the box office. Well, it did. But, was it really worth all the hype and hoopla it got from the media? For heaven’s sake, the film had an amazingly thin and preposterous storyline. With such a huge budget, surely the audience deserved better than just pure “style” and grandeur?

All of this probably applies to the world of fiction as well! As for newspapers, tabloids clearly sell faster than the hottest of cakes. Many people have even started liking trivial articles and ridiculous gossip about the lives of celebrities. Another effect of the “mediocrity virus”.

Now, to the world of sports, we do find excellence there, but no competition… at least not in cricket. As for tennis, the men’s game is clearly a two-horse race (and Thank God for the “two” there) and the women’s game clearly lacks depth and quality. As for the women players, one just cannot find the grace of a Graf or a Seles or a Sabatini among the Sharapovas and the Williamses of today’s tennis world. As for other sports, the scenario is more or less the same with either total domination being prevalent or lack of depth or both!

Above all of this, the one thing that disturbs me most is this. The latest match-winning effort is the best ever innings by a batsman. The latest Oscar winner is probably the greatest movie of all time. The latest F1 sensation is perhaps on his way to being the greatest driver of all time. Such headlines are numerous, and of course, pointless.

This is probably the worst habit of today’s media! Just the sheer absence of objectivity!

Ah…. Enough of moaning and lamenting in my first blog!!!
All of this clearly makes me sound like an “in the old times” sorta guy…. but well, the truth is, I ain’t one, but just can’t help but feel the absence of quality!!!