380. Ugetsu Monogatari
Kenji Mizoguchi’s masterpiece owes a great debt of gratitude to Kazuo Miyagawa’s luminous, shimmering cinematography.
Tag Archives: Literary adaptation
363. Arrival
No matter how cinematic, all films are nothing more than a form of writing that borrows from other forms of writing. Which is why Arrival comes in code.
361. Ex Machina
What if science-fiction were not a literary genre but a political and ideological theory. If so, Alex Garland uses Ex Machina to show us how he sees the world.
357. The Shining
In adapting Stephen King’s best-seller, Stanley Kubrick drew on a genre other than horror and used a new motif that he would repeat for the rest of his career.
355. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
If such an inscrutable character sits at the heart of John Le Carré’s labyrinthine plot, how is the adaptation such a lucid film?
354. Let The Right One In
The vampire genre is ripe with themes; sexuality, feminism, xenophobia, disease, yet Let The Right One In broke new ground.
348. The Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Of the four adaptations of Octave Mirbeau’s controversial novel, Luis Buñuel’s version is by far the most faithful… and radical.
343. Gladiator
Going into production, Gladiator had nothing near a finished script yet one simple change to the start of the story turned it into the greatest opera ever filmed.
342. Cold War
Despite its title, Cold War is not an espionage thriller. Instead, Pawel Pawlikowski loosely based it on his parents’ lives. But it’s not a biopic either. So what is it?
341. Edward Scissorhands
Ever wondered where snow comes from? That and other wonders – and horrors – live inside Tim Burton’s classic.
339. No Country for Old Men
While Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novel broke genre convention, the Coens’ adaptation is a study in audiovisual chaos.
337. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
This western gives fresh examinations of celebrity and post-traumatic stress disorder.
336. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Films about writers are tricky propositions but you can roughly divide the genre into two eras; pre- and post-Mishima.
335. There Will Be Blood
Yes, Daniel Plainview is unlikable. But where is it written that characters have to be nice? They only have to be interesting.
334. La Belle et la Bête
Fairytales transcend not just generations but cultures. Which may explain why La Belle et la Bête exists in so many guises and confronts so many issues.
326. Pather Panchali
Pather Panchali translates into English as Song of the Road, but the production was so arduous and fortuitous it should be called Song of Miracles.
315. Letter from an Unknown Woman
Max Ophuls’ adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s novella is more than a romance; it explores memory, delusion and the meaning of art.
312. Les Diaboliques
Often called the greatest thriller Hitchcock never made, Les Diaboliques is based on a book written to catch the attention of the Master of Suspense.
304. The Gospel According to Matthew
How did a blasphemous, homosexual, Marxist, atheist manage to make the greatest film about the life of Jesus Christ?
293. A Clockwork Orange
Kubrick’s controversial film remains relevant because of the Ludovico Technique’s conversion therapy: Pray Away the Gay.
292. La Ronde
Released in 1950, Max Ophuls’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s scandalous play is a landmark exhibition of theme and style operating in perfect harmony.
290. Babette’s Feast
In adapting Karen Blixen’s short story, Gabriel Axel chose to omit the politics and focus on the religious parable. But really, it works best as a recipe for life.
282. The Leopard
All countries have troubled histories they would rather forget. The Leopard is a masterpiece that admits to those troubles as well as the failure to fix them.
279. Vertigo
Is Hitchcock’s Vertigo really the greatest film ever made? Certainly, it is a compilation of his many themes and tropes, as well as a critique on cinema itself.
