From examinations of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, The Literature Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation covers a wide range of films adapted from other sources. The first section presents essays on the hows and whys of adaptation studies, and subsequent sections highlight films adapted from a variety of sources, including classic and popular literature, drama, biography, and memoir. The last section offers a new departure for adaptation studies, suggesting that films about history—often a separate category of film study—can be seen as adaptations of records of the past. The anthology concludes with speculations about the future of adaptation studies. Several essays provide detailed analyses of films, in some cases discussing more than one adaptation of a literary or dramatic source, such as The Manchurian Candidate, The Quiet American, and Romeo and Juliet. Other works examined include Moby Dick, The House of Mirth, Dracula, and Starship Troopers, demonstrating the breadth of material considered for this anthology. Although many of the essays appeared in Literature/Film Quarterly, more than half are original contributions. Chosen for their readability, these essays avoid theoretical jargon as much as possible. For this reason alone, this collection should be of interest to not only cinema scholars but to anyone interested in films and their source material. Ultimately, The Literature Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation provides an excellent overview of this critical aspect of film studies.
Part 1 Acknowledgments Part 2 Introduction: Issues of Screen Adaptation: What is Truth? Part 3 Part 1: Polemics Chapter 4 Chapter 1 It Wasn't Like That in the Book... Chapter 5 Chapter 2 Literature vs. Literacy: Two Futures for Adaptation Studies Chapter 6 Chapter 3 Adaptation Studies and the History of Ideas: The Case ofApocalypse Now Chapter 7 Chapter 4 Adaptation Studies Revisited: Purposes, Perspectives, and Inspiration Chapter 8 Chapter 5 The Cold War's "Undigested Apple-Dumpling": ImagingMoby-Dick in 1956 and 2001 Chapter 9 Chapter 6 Trying Harder: Probability, Objectivity, and Rationality in Adaptation Studies Part 10 Part II: Classic and Popular Literature Chapter 11 Chapter 7 WhatIs a "Shakespeare Film," Anyway? Chapter 12 Chapter 8 Returning to Naples: Seeing the End in Shakespeare Film Adaptation Chapter 13 Chapter 9 Pop Goes the Shakespeare: Baz Luhrmann'sWilliam Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet Chapter 14 Chapter 10 Reframing Adaptation: Representing the Invisible (OnThe House of Mirth, Directed by Terence Davies, 2000) Chapter 15 Chapter 11 Sucking Dracula: Mythic Biography into Fiction in Film, or Why Francis Ford Coppola'sDracula Is Not ReallyBram Stoker's Dracula or Wallachia's Dracula Chapter 16 Chapter 12Vertigo, Novel and Film Chapter 17 Chapter 13 Heinlein, Verhoeven, and the Problem of the RealStarship Troopers Part 18 Part III: Politics and Adaptation Chapter 19 Chapter 14 Literary Hardball: The Novel-to-Screen Complexities ofThe Manchurian Candidate Chapter 20 Chapter 15The Oak: A Balancing Act from Page to Screen Chapter 21 Chapter 16 Adaptation and the Cold War: Mankiewicz'sThe Quiet American Chapter 22 Chapter 17 All the Quiet Americans Part 23 Part IV: History, Biography, and Memoir Chapter 24 Chapter 18Camille Claudel: Biography Constructed as Melodrama Chapter 25 Chapter 19 W. C. Handy Goes Uptown: Hollywood Constructs the American Blues Musician Chapter 26 Chapter 20 Memoir and the Limits of Adaptation Chapter 27 Chapter 21 Getting It Right: The Alamo on Film Chapter 28 Chapter 22 "Plains" Speaking: Sound, Sense, and Sensibility in Ang Lee'sRIde with the Devil Part 29 Part V: Epilogue: The Future of Adaptation Studies Chapter 30 Chapter 23 Whare Are We Going, Where Have We Been? Chapter 31 Chapter 24 The Future of Adaptation Studies Part 32 Index Part 33 About the Editors Part 34 About the Contributors
James M. Welsh is Professor Emeritus of English at Salisbury University (Salisbury, Maryland). He cofounded the Literature/Film Quarterly in 1973 and served as its editor for more than 30 years. He also founded the Literature/Film Association. He is the author, editor, or series editor of numerous books, including The Encyclopedia of Filmmakers and The Cinema of Tony Richardson (1999). Peter Lev is Professor of Electronic Media and Film at Towson University. His books include The Euro-American Cinema (1993), American Films of the 1970s: Conflicting Visions (2000) and Volume 7 of the History of the American Cinema series, Transforming the Screen: The Fifties (2003).
Overview
From examinations of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, The Literature Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation covers a wide range of films adapted from other sources. The first section presents essays on the hows and whys of adaptation studies, and subsequent sections highlight films adapted from a variety of sources, including classic and popular literature, drama, biography, and memoir. The last section offers a new departure for adaptation studies, suggesting that films about ...