With the very recent announcement of Guillermo del Toro’s next project, a stop-motion adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Buried Giant, and with World Book Day right around the corner, we thought it would be fun to take a look at what might be the best films to be adapted from humanity’s third oldest form of storytelling, the written word.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of films that have been adapted from books and novels. Whether they directly translate what has been written into the medium of cinema, or their plot is more loosely based on their paperback predecessors, novels have always influenced the best screenwriters and directors throughout history; ‘to be a writer, you must be a reader’ goes the old saying.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Easily one of the wittiest films of all time, The Princess Bride has become a cult classic, inspiring thousands of modern filmmakers. Even if you’ve never actually seen this film (first off, what are you doing? Go watch it!), you’ve most certainly heard of it and its most famous line “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!”. The Oscar-nominated and multi-award-winning film is one of the best love stories of all time (take that Titanic).
Due to the movie’s colossal influence on pop culture, many people may not know that the film is adapted from the novel of the same name by William Goldman. The novel was published in 1973, 15 years before the release of its cinematic counterpart. Goldman actually worked on the film, adapting his novel into the screenplay for the film.
The Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
It’d be sacrilegious if we didn’t mention the grandfather of fantasy on this list. J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have inspired almost every fantasy novel and film that has been published in the 80+ years since. Written as a fictional English mythology, and heavily inspired by Celtic and Nordic myths and legends, the Dwarfs, Hobbits, Dragons, and Wizards of The Lord of the Rings have captivated generations of readers.
The trilogy of films by Peter Jackson has had a very similar effect on recent pop culture. Often considered to be the best fantasy films of all time, especially 2003’s The Return of the King, there are few films as influential and as entertaining as The Lord of the Rings. Featuring amazing performances from the whole cast, including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom, as well as one of the best original soundtracks of all time, it is pretty safe to say The Lord of the Rings will forever be one of cinema’s greatest achievements and one of the best book adaptations.
Persepolis (2007)
Stepping out of the realms of live-action films and prose novels, we move into graphic novels and animation. Persepolis is author Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir of her life between the ages of six to fourteen, a period which saw the Islamic Revolution in Iran. “The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.” Persepolis is as moving as it is wise and humorous.
Marjane Satrapi co-directed the feature film, with Vincent Paronnaud (Chicken with Plumbs), and carried the unique art style of the graphic novel over into the film’s animation style. The film is a guaranteed tear-jerker and is worth the time of any and every cinema fan, especially in light of current events in the neighbouring country Iran.
Dune (2021)
A prime example of the Golden-Age of Sci-fi, Frank Herbert’s Dune is one of the greatest science fiction epics ever written. After David Lynch’s questionable 1984 adaptation (which has now become a cult classic), many people wrote Dune off as being unadaptable, along with several other sci-fi novels of its time like Foundation and The Book of the New Sun.
But in 2021, Canadian director Denis Villeneuve rose to the challenge and produced one of the best science fiction movies of the 21st Century. Along with co-writer Jon Spaiths, Villeneuve didn’t shy away from the surreal imagery and existential philosophy that makes Dune what it is. With gorgeous cinematography, stellar performances from the whole cast, and the best-designed sandworms since Kevin Bacon’s Tremors, Dune has everyone desperate for its second part, set to release later this year.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The film that launched Javier Bardem’s Hollywood career, No Country for Old Men is arguably the Coen Brothers’ greatest film so far. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s dark neo-Western novel, the film follows Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss, who finds himself pursued by violence incarnate after stumbling across a bag of money found at a drug deal gone wrong.
The novel is one of McCarthy’s best, and most popular works, alongside The Road and Blood Meridian, both equally dark books in their own right. The film received hundreds of awards nominations and went on to win 4 Oscars in 2008. The film has long been used in film schools around the world, analysing the characterisation of Javier Bardem’s terrifying villain Anton Chigurh, named by EMPIRE as the 8th best film villain of all time!
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