Book to Movie: Winter's Tale
I recently had
the opportunity to attend a pre-screening of the film Winter’s Tale prior to its release in
theaters on February 14th. Winter’s Tale
stars Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Russell Crowe, and is based on
Mark Helprin’s novel of the same name.
Helprin’s novel, published in 1985, weaves a tale about a mythic New York City at the turn of the century and a curious battle between good and evil. Described by some as a novel of magic realism, it spans two centuries and has an array of unique characters. It even has an average rating of 4.04 stars on Goodreads, and overall very positive reviews. However, I, unfortunately, did not have the chance to read the novel before I saw the film this past week.
That being said,
after viewing the film, I’m glad that I didn’t read the novel first. While the
trailers for Winter’s Tale seemed
promising, the film did not live up to my expectations. The theater was filled
with laughter for the entirety of the screening as the audience made fun of the
film’s oddities, including strange lines of dialogue and awkward character
interactions. I found myself focusing very hard on understanding what the
film’s plot was even about, and while there were redeeming moments sprinkled
throughout the film, overall Winter’s
Tale felt forced.
As a whole, the film just did not fit well
together. While the actors were great, their interactions didn’t seem
natural, and the plot’s progression didn’t always make sense. Additionally, the
fact that the audience was always laughing was a clear indicator that the film
was not successful in what it sought out to do. With a rating of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.8 stars on IMDb,
the opening weekend for Winter’s Tale
looks bleak. But don’t fear! The film adaptation of Winter’s Tale has not deterred me from reading the original novel.
There must be some redeeming qualities about it since they chose to turn it
into a film. Personally, as a student studying film, I am even more eager to
read the novel and understand why the film adaptation seemed like such a
failure.
The other day I
read a great article by Markus Zusak, the author of
the critically acclaimed novel: The Book
Thief. In his article, Zusak shares his experience writing The Book Thief and the process by which
the novel was turned into a film. Zusak says it best when he explains that book
and film adaptations are related but not the same. Perhaps this mindset should also be adopted by audience members viewing the film adaptation of a book
(or vice versa). There will be similarities, but there will also be
differences. Judging a film adaptation based solely on the book is not fair to
either the filmmaker or the author.
To any potential
viewers of Winter’s Tale, please take
this perspective into consideration, and to anyone seeking to read a novel
after viewing the film adaptation, keep this in mind as well. Turning books
into film can turn out to be a successful venture from a storytelling and
entertainment perspective, but maybe it’s not always for everyone.
By: Paulina Pascual
