Literature into Film: Theory and Practical Approaches / Edition 1

by Linda Costanzo Cahir

Overview

For most people, film adaptation of literature can be summed up in one sentence: "The movie wasn't as good as the book." This volume undertakes to show the reader that not only is this evaluation not always true but sometimes it is intrinsically unfair. Movies based on literary works, while often billed as adaptations, are more correctly termed translations. A director and his actors translate the story from the written page into a visual presentation. Depending on the form of the original text and the chosen method of translation, certain inherent difficulties and pitfalls are associated with this change of medium. So often our reception of a book-based movie has more to do with our expectations and reading of the literature than with the job that the movie production did or did not do. Avoiding these biases and fairly evaluating any particular literary-based film takes an awareness of certain factors.

Written with a formalistic rather than historical approach, this work presents a comprehensive guide to literature-based films, establishing a contextual and theoretical basis to help the reader understand the relationships between such movies and the original texts as well as the reader's own individual responses to these productions. To this end, it focuses on recognizing and appreciating the inherent difficulties encountered when basing a film on a literary work, be it a novel, novella, play or short story. Individual chapters deal with the specific issues and difficulties raised by each of these genres, providing an overview backed up by case studies of specific film translations. Films and literary works receiving this treatment include The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Lady Windemere's Fan by Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare's Henry V. Interspersed throughout the text are suggestions for activities the film student or buff can use to enhance his or her appreciation and understanding of the films.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786425976
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/04/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	315
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Linda Costanzo Cahir is an assistant professor at Kean University and a contributing editor to Literature/Film Quarterly. Her publications include numerous articles and the book Society and Solitude in the Works of Herman Melville and Edith Wharton.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Diaries and Letters
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Three Generals:
deleteAndrew Jackson,
deleteWilliam Henry Harrison
deleteand Zachary Taylor
Martin Van Buren
Two Accidentals: John Tyler and Millard Fillmore
James K. Polk
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald J. Trump
A Brief History of Publishing the Presidents: Booksellers, Copyrights, Royalties, Ghostwriters and Literary Agents
First Editions, Limited Editions and Other Collectibles
Chronological List of Publications Authored by Presidents
Notes
Bibliography
Index