How literature influences cinema

It is widely known that the reciprocal influence between different forms of art appears constantly in front of our eyes. An immediate example of this phenomenon can be noticed by observing two of the most worldwide-spread famous artistic genres: literature and cinema. The amount of book stories that have been turned into movies is enormous, but the two artistic expressions don’t appeal equally to everyone. Some people claim that reading cannot be replaced by watching, while some others advocate that this highly depends on the quality of the final product. Thus, what are the standpoints of each conflicting side and what are the different opinions upon this topic?

Many times, the big screen adaptations do not meet our expectations. This can be explained mainly because the feelings of the characters and the dozens of events that are described in hundreds of pages of a novel, cannot all be presented in the 120 minutes of a movie. In this way, many adaptations do not achieve to convey the book’s atmosphere and depth.

On the other hand, there are numerous people that believe that movie adaptations can comprise an interesting and appealing alternative to books. Firstly, many people prefer watching a film adaptation instead of reading the original book, probably because watching the development of a film story takes less effort than reading. However, it could be said that watching movies inspired by books can actually get people in touch with literature. Secondly, films are more accessible, since they are created to please the average audience . Moreover, there are many movies that are equally good or even better than the original novel. Probably this happens because films also emphasize on other artistic aspects, such as photography, costumes, etc.

Books and their film adaptations that were equally successful, according to box office (for movies) and best sellers (for manuscripts) lists, are: The “Harry Potter” book and movie series by J.K. Rowling (film directors: David Yates, Michael Newell, Alfonso Cuarón, Chris Columbus), “Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien (film director: Peter Jackson), “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo (film director: Francis Ford Coppola), “Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi (film directors: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske) and many many more.

Since I am a big fan of novels, I prefer immersing myself in a book’s atmosphere, so I definitely prefer reading. However, I believe that there are cases in which movie adaptations are equally good or even better than the original books. For example, both “Io e te” book by Niccolò Ammaniti, and its film adaptation “Me and You”, manage to be equally interesting yet different at the same time. I can recall one case that I enjoyed the film more than the original book. That was the comedy film “About a Boy” (film directors: Chris and Paul Weitz), which I liked more compared to the titular novel by Nick Hornby.

In conclusion, different artistic expressions like literature and cinema can mutually influence the other, but what to appreciate the most depends on personal taste and inclination. Whatever you choose, the most important thing is that you enjoy it, so try to find out which one really captures your attention.

For an extensive discussion and recommendations about books and their film adaptations, you can visit the following link: https://anamendigain.edublogs.org/tag/book/.