Subjectively About Film Adaptations

Today, I’d like to talk about books. But not just books—my husband writes a lot about those, and does so interestingly—but about film adaptations.

Film adaptations are tricky. Translating the content of a book into a screenplay can be difficult, even for the book’s author, as cinema is an art form with its own rules and demands. Another challenge is casting actors that both fit the book’s characters and satisfy the director and fans. In the end, we get what we get.

I’ve compiled my personal ranking of the best and worst film adaptations from those I’ve both watched and read the original books. Today, I’ll share the best ones. And just a heads-up, everything is subjective.

Best film adaptations

At the top of my list is The Green Mile. I watched the movie before reading the book, and at the time, I didn’t even know it was an adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Back then, I only associated King with horror. A couple of years later, I read the book, and I felt no disconnect between the film and the novel—the movie captured everything that mattered to me while reading.

This film would have been entirely different if John Coffey had not been played by Michael Clarke Duncan. He was a man who arrived in Hollywood as a bodyguard for stars. He started out in commercials and soap operas, but for his role in The Green Mile, he was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Second place in my ranking goes to Fight Club. Again, I watched the movie first and then read the book. In my opinion, the screenwriters hardly deviated from the novel. Plus, the casting was excellent, especially Helena Bonham Carter, who I want to highlight. She has this incredible ability to be both the same and completely different in all her films. How she does it, I have no idea. Judging by the photos circulating online, she seems the same way in real life too.

Critics say that Fight Club is one of those rare cases where the movie surpasses the book. Probably, yes. There are adaptations where the book is frankly dull, but the film or series brings it to life (for example, the Outlander series and its TV adaptation). But here, both the book and the film are great, with the film being even better.

In third place, I’d put Les Misérables. This film isn’t a “classic” adaptation. I believe that a musical adds an extra layer of risk when transferring a book to the screen. Music and lyrics take center stage, pushing the plot into the background. And Les Misérables isn’t just any book—it’s a classic, known by everyone, and people tend to be very sensitive to any experiments with it. Nevertheless, it all worked out. I want to specifically mention Hugh Jackman, who lost a significant amount of weight for his role to match the character of Jean Valjean, a convict. The actors sing very well, and several songs made it onto my playlist.

Fourth place in my ranking goes to another musical film: D’artagnan and the Three Musketeers. The film itself is controversial, odd, and far from the book. But the songs carried it. Why did I include it on my list? I believe that thanks to this film, the novel gained popularity. And our generation just absorbed the exuberant “Hey-hey!” As for the songs themselves… I wonder if there’s any other film whose songs have been so misheard. Everyone heard something entirely different from what was actually being sung. “Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation…”

Fifth place goes to The Lord of the Rings. Fans pelted it with rotten tomatoes, and everyone had something to say about the elves’ appearance and their archery. But I liked the movie. For me, it became a turning point in fantasy and sci-fi adaptations. The technology had reached a level where it was finally possible to adapt complex fantasy books, and dragons could fly, and fantastical creatures would look alive rather than like puppets.