I don’t know what it is about film adaptations, but like period pieces and coming of age stories, I just love them and am willing to see just about any in that genre provided the acting is good. As an avid reader and a writer, I really enjoy seeing film adaptations of novels, short stories and plays. Where some people dislike film adaptations that don’t “stay true” to the original story, I am open to seeing a screenwriter’s or director’s screen adaption no matter the change. Plus, it’s rare that an adaptation of any kind can be completely faithful because creative minds don’t think alike. Anyway, some things in literature don’t translate well on screen. A novel is written from the point of view of the protagonist who moves us through the story using thoughts, descriptions, emotion, and other intangibles. Whereas, the screen play, the film is all about action. Besides, artistic license shouldn’t be censored. Although sometimes screen adaptations fall short and the true vein of a novel’s story line can be lost in translation, when a good screenwriter and/or director decides to detract from novel, short story or play one way or another, I’ve been delightfully surprised…and relieved.

Although there are many great film adaptations out there, there are fewer still that captured the very essence of the book. Here is my list of some of my favorite film adaptations of literary works I’ve seen that captured the essence of the original story:

• I am Legend 2007 (Richard Matheson, I Am Legend – novel)
• The 24th Day (Tony Piccirillo, The 24th Day – a play)
• Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton, Age of Innocence – novel)
• Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire – novel)
• The Hours (Michael Cunningham, The Hours – novel)
• Clueless (Jane Austen, Emma – novel)
• The Shawshank Redemption (Steven King, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption – short story)
• L.A. Confidential (James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential – novel)
• Goodfellas (Nicholas Pileggi,Wise Gut – novel)
• Chicago 2002 (Maurine Dallas Watkins, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, Chicago – a play/musical)
• A Doll’s House 1973 (Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House – a play)
• Elephant Man (Bernard Pomeranc, Elephat Man – a play)
• The Lover ( Marguerite Duras, The Lover – novel)
• Pride and Prejudice 1995 TV mini-series (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice – novel)
• Sin City (Frank Miller, Sin City – graphic novels)
• The Talented Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley – novel)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird – novel)
• Brokeback Mountain (Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain – short story)
• Cool Hand Luke (Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke – novel)
• The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders – novel)
• The Color Purple (Alice Walker, The Color Purple – novel)
• Wings of the Dove (Henry James, Wings of the Dove – novel)
• Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro, Remains of the Day – novel)
• Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre – novel)
• House of Mirth (Edith Wharton, House of Mirth – novel)
• Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility – novel)
• The Day of the Locust (Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust – novel)
• The Thin Man (Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man – novel)
• X-Men (X-Men, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby – Marvel comics)
• Solaris 2002 (Stanislaw Lem, Solaris – novel)