Bookworms and Movie Maniacs : Literary adaptations in cinema

iView Author:Aditya Mani Jha
(Kharagpur, India)
EMAIL: amj91288[at] gmail [dot] com

Title: Bookworms and Movie Maniacs : Literary adaptations in cinema

Following are three out of the five nominees for the Best Film Academy Award: Atonement, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood.(No Country For Old Men finally got the nod from the Academy sages.)

In case you are wondering what are the ties which bind the trio, the answer is they are all literary adaptations , based on novels by Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy and Upton Sinclair, respectively. Although adapted screenplays are not a new thing, the recent trend shows an upsurge like never before. So what is it that attracts writers and directors to bring out the reading glasses?

For one, one of the biggest hurdles of filmmaking is easily overcome when you have an engrossing story on hand. While some directors prefer …


(more…)