Hi there, and welcome to April’s Film Club Blog! I hope you all had a lovely Easter break and are excited as I am for the final term of the year. This month’s blog comes in conjunction with World Book Night, which takes place on the 23rd April. World Book Night looks to to promote the benefits of reading, so what better way is there to celebrate books in this blog than to have a month dedicated to some of the best book adaptations out there? Yes, all four of this month's entries are adaptations of books (for different ages) and we have copies of all four books right here in the Library! You could watch the film and then read the book or vice versa, and compare them yourself.
First up, we have the dark fantasy A Monster Calls (2016). Based on the 2011 book by Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking), who also adapted the screenplay for the film himself. The film adaptation was directed by J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Impossible) with a cast featuring the likes of: Lewis MacDougall (Pan), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Galaxy Quest), Toby Kebbell (Warcraft, Kong: Skull Island) and Liam Neeson (Taken, The Chronicles of Narnia).
The story takes place in rural England, and revolves around 12-year-old Conor O’Malley (MacDougall) who has a close bond with his mother (Jones), however she is seriously ill from an undisclosed illness. She turns to her mother (Weaver), Conor’s gran, for help looking after him while she gets treatment. Conor is not a fan of her strict methods though, and is not interested in living with her, instead wishing to be with his father in America (Kebbell) and meet his half-sister. He is relentlessly bullied at school by classmate Harry and constantly plagued by nightmares at night; in which an old church nearby, collapses into a hole and Conor desperately tries to hold on to his mother to prevent from falling in. One night, at exactly 7 minutes past midnight, Conor sees a large yew tree next to the church transform into a giant Monster (in reality this time) which then approaches his home. The Monster says he will tell Conor three stories, in return Conor must divulge his nightmare and the two will figure out what it means together.
A Monster Calls received highly positive reviews from both the critics and audiences that watched it; in particular for its direction, casting, visual effects and themes. However, it seriously underperformed at the box office, flying under the radar. It surprisingly most well received and watched in Bayona’s homeland of Spain, winning many awards there. An interesting fact to add about this one, is that some of the filming even took place in our very own county of West Yorkshire!
You can watch A Monster Calls by borrowing the DVD from the Library, or by streaming it on E-Stream.
If you want to read the book, you can find it in our Reading Zone collection with the class number RC/NES.
Watch the thrilling trailer by simply playing the clip below :
Our second entry is a much more adult film, the romantic war drama Atonement (2007). The novel it was based on was written by Ian McEwan (The Innocent, Black Dogs) and published in 2001. The movie version was directed by Joe Wright (Pride Prejudice 2005, Darkest Hour), and chronicles a crime and its consequences for those involved over the course of six decades [60 years]. The impressive cast includes: Keira Knightley (Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean), James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Split), Juno Temple (Maleficent, St. Trinians 2007) and Benedict Cumberbatch (12 Years A Slave, Avengers: Infinity War). Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Lady Bird), Romola Garai (One Day, Suffragette) and Dame Vanessa Redgrave (Howards End, Mission: Impossible) all play the same character at 3 different points in her life.
Taking place in England, in 1935 – the story begins with 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Ronan), of the wealthy Tallis family watching her older sister Cecilia (Knightley) and the housekeeper’s son Robbie (McAvoy) from her bedroom window. Cecilia is madly infatuated with Robbie and vice versa. Robbie accidentally breaks a vase and yells at Cecilia to be careful around the pieces while they argue near a fountain in the garden. Briony, oblivious to the conversation, misinterprets what is going on. Robbie later drafts a note to Cecilia to apologise for the incident, one iteration of which includes a declaration of his love for her. This is the one he mistakenly places into an envelope and gives to a suspicious Briony to pass to her sister. Briony reads it before giving it to Cecilia, once again gaining the wrong interpretation of what it all means. This is not helped by her cousin Lola (Temple) jokingly branding Robbie a “sex maniac”.
Later Paul Marshall (Cumberbatch), a friend of Briony & Cecilia’s brother Leon, arrives and takes a questionable liking to Lola. After Briony spies Cecilia & Robbie in an intimate state in the library during a dinner party, she again jumps to conclusions about what she saw. And after a daunting incident in the night, makes a dreadful mistake, with far reaching consequences for her and everyone one else over the rest of the film. The lingering question is – can she atone?
Much like the book, the film adaptation was well loved and well watched. Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars, branding it “one of the year’s best films, a certain best picture nominee” (as it turns out it was nominated for this award but didn’t win. The film received further praise for its casting, score, direction and adherence to the source material. David Gritten (The Daily Telegraph) said the release would “almost certainly catapult Wright into the ranks of world-class directors”. Whereas Variety noted that “Atonement is immensely faithful to McEwan’s novel”. It was nominated for a total of 6 Oscars (including a Best Supporting Actress nod for young Saoirse Ronan) winning only for Best Original Score, as well as 14 Baftas winning 2 and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama to boot! A word of warning, this entry is not for younger viewers and it best seen by those over 16.
You can watch Atonement by borrowing the DVD from the Library, or by streaming it on E-Stream.
If you want to read the book, you can find it in our Reading Zone collection with the class number RC/MCE.
Watch a scene that is both heart-warming and heart-breaking where Robbie remembers his time with Cecilia by playing the clip below :
Next up is the children’s fantasy film Bridge to Terabithia (2007), a look at the power of imagination. Released exactly 30 years after its source novel by Katherine Paterson (The Great Gilly Hopkins) and directed by Gábor Csupó (The Secret of Moonacre). It stars Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth 2008, The Hunger Games), AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; The Way, Way Back), Bailee Madison (Just Go with It), Zooey Deschanel (Elf, 500 Days of Summer) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Spy Kids). The story is told through the eyes of 12-year-old Jesse “Jess” Aarons, a 6th grader and aspiring artist, as he navigates life in high school and at home.
Jess (Hutcherson) lives with his financially struggling family in Lark Creek. He rides the bus to school with his 6-year-old sister May Belle (Madison) and is perpetually bullied, additionally he has an extremely hard time bonding with his father Jack (Patrick). One day things start to look brighter when a new student joins Jess’ class at school, Leslie Burke (Robb). After Leslie annoyingly wins a running event Jess had been training hard for, the two become friends after discovering they are actually neighbours. After school most days, the two begin venturing into the woods, swinging across a creek on a rope to an abandoned treehouse on the other side. While there, they begin to invent a new world with their minds – Terabithia, to help them escape from/cope with their realities. Terabithia is a land filled with all manner of magical creatures, inspired by figures from the real-world lives of Jess and Leslie. As the pair grow closer, the world of Terabithia becomes stronger and bigger; but growing frustrations for the pair threaten to derail their imagination and belief, putting Terabithia’s existence at risk.
Bridge to Terabithia is a beautiful piece about using your imagination to overcome your fears and insecurities, and while not without its sadness, it’s certainly one to watch for all high school pupils. Both critical and audience reviews were overwhelmingly positive about this adaptation, with James Berardinelli (ReelViews) calling it “easily the best family feature of the year”, whereas audiences surveyed on CinemaScore gave it an average grade of A-. The cast was heavily praised - particularly Robb - and the directing. Ann Homaday (The Washington Post) praised the script for being “utterly recognizable and authentic” to its source material. Miriam di Nunzio (Chicago Sun-Times) – noted “the film’s heart and soul rests on the abilities of its young lead characters to make us really see the world through children eyes”, unsurprisingly the film won all 5 awards which it was nominated for at the Young Artist Awards, including both Leading Young Actor & Actress for Hutcherson & Robb.
You can watch Bridge to Terabithia by streaming it on E-Stream.
If you want to read the book, you can find it in our Reading Zone collection with the class number RC/PAT.
Get a sneak preview by watching the trailer, just play the clip below :
Last but not least we take a look at one of the original science fiction thrillers, Ridley Scott’s (Gladiator, The Martian) Blade Runner (1982). It is an adaptation of the hit book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by acclaimed novelist Philip K. Dick (The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly). Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) leads a cast that also features: Rutger Hauer (Nighthawks, Batman Begins), Sean Young (Dune 1984, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver, Coco), M. Emmet Walsh (Christmas with the Kranks, The Jerk) and Daryl Hannah (Steel Magnolias, Kill Bill). In a dystopian future; set in the year 2019; Ford portrays Rick Deckard, a jaded former Police Officer in Los Angeles. In this world, synthetic humans are bio engineered by a powerful company named the Tyrell Corporation and named replicants, sent to work on space colonies.
One day, Deckard is arrested by Officer Gaff (Olmos) and brought before his former supervisor Captain Bryant (Walsh). Bryant asks Deckard to resume his old designation as a ‘Blade Runner’ (a tracker and terminator of replicants), after informing him that four replicants are on Earth illegally – these include Roy Batty (Hauer) and Pris (Hannah). While Deckard at first refuses the job, Bryant threatens him into complying. To begin bis work, Deckard meets the CEO of the Tyrell Corporation, Eldon Tyrell, who helps him try out a test that determines if someone is a replicant or not. But Deckard becomes nervous when Tyrell suggests it be tried on his assistant Rachael (Young) – a replicant who truly believes she is human. As Deckard sets about his job chasing the potential dangerous replicants, the lines begin to get blurred where Rachael is concerned, will he succeed in his mission?
Surprisingly, this sci-fi epic polarized critics at first, yet audiences quite enjoyed it and it quickly became a cult film. The film also had quite the effect on society, with academics beginning to analyse it almost immediately. It is seen as one of the staple cyberpunk and dystopian thrillers and science fiction films by most avid movie buffs. It was added to the National Film Registry for preservation in 1993, and has been used an influence by many famous directors. The Guardian and New Scientist (a journal publication available in the Library) – have it down as their No.1 science-fiction film of all time. On the awards stage, it was nominated for 2 Oscars and won 2 Baftas out of the impressive 8 it was nominated for (Cinematography, Costume Design & Production Design). It still talked about much today, and received a belated sequel – Blade Runner 2049 – in 2017, with Ford & Olmos reprising their roles, a third entry is also in development.
You can watch Blade Runner by borrowing the DVD from the Library, or by streaming it on E-Stream.
If you want to read the Philip K. Dick story it is based on, Do androids dream of electric sheep?, you can find it in our Reading Zone collection with the class number RC/DIC.
Have a taste of the action, and watch Deckard mercilessly terminate a replicant in the clip in the clip below :
Reading and watching – they go so well together don’t they? That is why I challenge you on this World Book Night, to read one of these four books then go and watch the film adaptation. Compare and contrast, does the film capture the essence of the book and its characters authentically? I bet you it does, because these four entries are some of the most faithful recreations of well-loved books there’s ever been, and that’s not just coming from me.
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