Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From Gone with the Wind to The Passion of the Christ

by Thomas Leitch

Most books on film adaptation—the relation between films and their literary sources—focus on a series of close one-to-one comparisons between specific films and canonical novels. This volume identifies and investigates a far wider array of problems posed by the process of adaptation. Beginning with an examination of why adaptation study has so often supported the institution of literature rather than fostering the practice of literacy, Thomas Leitch considers how the creators of short silent films attempted to give them the weight of literature, what sorts of fidelity are possible in an adaptation of sacred scripture, what it means for an adaptation to pose as an introduction to, rather than a transcription of, a literary classic, and why and how some films have sought impossibly close fidelity to their sources. After examining the surprisingly divergent fidelity claims made by three different kinds of canonical adaptations, Leitch's analysis moves beyond literary sources to consider why a small number of adapters have risen to the status of auteurs and how illustrated books, comic strips, video games, and true stories have been adapted to the screen. The range of films studied, from silent Shakespeare to Sherlock Holmes to The Lord of the Rings , is as broad as the problems that come under review.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 2007

Reviews

[Nicole Sobolewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was slow at work today so I powered through and finished this book. Good theory, but boring as hell.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed it for my film class. Good explanations and good categories. Too dense and academic for my community college students. At the same time, pleasantly chatty for an academic book.

[Ray Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the writing style is very dry and full of impenetrable language this has some fascinating observations about the film adaptation. Most interesting is how Leitch constructs a heirarchy of authorship that determines whether or not a film is marketed on the author of the original novel or the director of the film

Rather than making value judgements on 'what makes a good adaptation' this is more focused on analysing the many different ways works can be adapted and how the public respond to them.

It's a little disheartening if predictable that the public comes out of this book as an audience that demands total fidelity to source material, something I personally would agree with Truffaut on - that a work must adapt to become a work of cinema rather than attempt to keep a foot in the literary world

[Esme! · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s intriguing. I love adaptation studies. I don’t agree with some, agree with others. Very interesting.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fine and has some interesting chapters. I particularly enjoyed the chapter about auteurs. However, the chapters are often too long for my taste and overall this was more of a study book than a pleasure book.

[Kylie Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book due to my studies in literature.