As a lover of language and styles, one of the first books I fell in love with for its uniqueness was The Color Purple, if only for the reason that I learned that it was written in epistolary form and is one of the first books I remember reading that I felt was somewhat of a scandalous read. I had heard it was banned in other places in the country, and since I was parentally banned from the vulgarities of MTV and movies like Dirty Dancing (in hindsight, thanks mom and dad for that—both were highly overrated), it made me feel like I was part of a group of kids who knew something other people didn’t. And that’s the best feeling when you’re young. Holden Caulfield was cool, but a bit phony himself. These women were the real deal.
The Color Purple is also one of the few books that made it to the big screen that I love equally or more than the text itself. (I’m offering a challenge for everyone to name of the book you love in text and after it was made into a film—the few you found the visual experience equal or better to the reading experience).
One of my favorites parts of the movie The Color Purple is the music, especially the Shug’s song to Celie. It is a crucial moment, but in reading, sound does not emanate from the page. Not even in my most heightened imaginative state could have conjured something that sounds this great. That scene changed the way I view the book—and in the best way. Margaret Avery is the woman who brought voice and body to Shug and there is no other rendition or voice I will ever be able to hear sing the part.
I’d loved this song for years, but it could not be found, even on iTUNES until recently, after it became a Broadway hit—(and no, I'm not going to talk about Oprah's role in either the movie or the play). I’m talking about searching for this song since the 1990’s. My very own beautiful sister found it for me three years ago and it’s now of my favorite listens. Some may say the Blues, as a genre, is full of sadness. But so much of the blues is uplifting and these days I love the way some songs just say ‘yeah, this is a problem, let’s work it out,’ and inspires me to do better. This is one of them. It’s empowering and especially important to uplift and support the women who support and uplift you.
My Katie, this is for you, as well as my first pen, rather, "epistol-pal" before email and oldest friend Emily, and the divine Miss Aisling, without email I have no idea what we would do:
Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)
Song from The Color Purple
Ummm, Ummm…Ummm.Ummm..(Harmonica)
Sister, you've been on my mind
Sister, we're two of a kind
So, sister, I'm keepin' my eye on you.
I betcha think I don't know nothin'
But singin' the blues, oh, sister,
Have I got news for you, I'm something,
I hope you think that you're something too
Scufflin', I been up that lonesome road
And I seen alot of suns going down
Oh, but trust me,
No-o low life's gonna run me around.
So let me tell you something Sister,
Remember your name, No twister
Gonna steal your stuff away, my sister,
We sho' ain't got a whole lot of time,
So-o-o shake your shimmy Sister,
'Cause honey
the 'Shug' is feelin' fine.
6 comments:
The issue you raise about books translated into movie form is a hardy perennial. Usually, if I love a book, and especially if I've loved a book enough to have read it several times, I have my own visualization of what the characters and the settings look like. This visualization is often quite different from the filmmaker's. Then, there's the difference in the media - film shows the external, while books let you into the thoughts of the characters. There's also the length of the experience. Movies are generally only 2 hours long, books take many hours to read. My brother gets upset about deviations from the text. I tend to the other extreme - I think of the movies/text as more of a Rashomon kind of experience. (Itself a conversion of a well loved story to film, also well loved - although strangely, the film is not based on the story called Rashomon, but a different story by the same author. . .) Most often, I find the film version disappointing. One category of films and books that mesh well are action films, where the book is very plot driven. For example, The Hunt for Red October is an excellent film. The book is not great literature, but is a very satisfying page turner. I was amused by one of my colleagues at the office, who said he was disappointed in the film because it lacked the character development of the novel - characterization not being one of Tom Clancy's strong points.
A more recent example - the French film "Ne le Dis a Personne" is top notch. I found Harlan Coben's "Tell No One" unreadable. But in response to your question, about film versions of books I love, I'd offer the following that I regard as successful:
Lord of the Rings
The Pallisers
Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson)
I've often found that it matters which order I encounter the book and the movie. If I see the movie first and then read the book - then I am less troubled by the movie's lack of adherence to the details of the book. One example is Dr. Zhivago - a divinely beautiful movie. Would I have loved it quite so much if I had read the book first?
I am about to have this experience with Tuck Everlasting - which I watched on DVD earlier this week and plan to read. I'm sure that the resident muse of Treegap Poets must have an opinion on the movie.
Often when we've found a book we treasure, the parts we treasure are not, and perhaps cannot, be included in any film based on the book.
A related topic is film based on historical characters. I just saw Bright Star. This film depicts the romance between John Keats and Fanny Berawne. Is it true to history? I don't know. Is it beautifully done, well acted, and a meditation on the relation between poetry and life? Yes. Go see it.
George: I'm so glad you brought up "Tell No One"-- I the French film was a brilliant and although I didn't read the book, I'll take your word for it.
I also take your point about genre-- some books can be average literary works but turned into great movies especially if they involve action or are visually stimulating. That said, I don't think Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" made for a great film despite my respect for Hanks and my absolute love of Audrey Tautou.
Danilo: I have to come clean here--
I've never seen the film version of Tuck Everlasting. Here's why: I read Tuck for the first time when I was 10 or 11 and it completely changed the way I would forever come to read and think about books and the power they hold. Ten years after that, I found myself picking up the book again the summer my own Nana was dying in a hospital room on the other side of the country. I re-connected with the book then and feel that it was instrumental in getting me through a tough next few weeks. That said, because of these experiences, I never wanted to see anyone else's vision of the story.
I suppose, since I threw out this topic, that I should pony up and watch it. I will put that on the list and devote a post to it when I do.
As for Bright Star, it came to E street just recently so I plan on seeing it before it leaves.
Thanks for sharing thoughts both of you!
I've now read Tuck and seen Tuck. It's a good movie, but it's not one to fall in love with, I don't think. The book is.
I've actually been reading a fair amount of young adult literature over the past couple of years. I loved the Golden Compass (the movie not so much) and its sequels. This past year I read Joan Aiken's Dito Twite series. Truly amazing stuff, set in an alternate England, where, IIRC, the Glorious Revolution never took place.
So when the movie came out of Tuck several years ago, I was interested and it went on my list of movies to be watched and the book on my list of books to be read. Both lists are pretty long. Your blog piqued my interest.
I don't think George was trying to suggest that all mediocre fiction will make good movies. Just that it sometimes happens. DaVinci Code is a good example of a film that did not rise above its source material. There are probably thousands of other examples.
By the way, Audrey Tautou looks quite good in Coco Before Chanel previews.
Agreed about Coco previews, I can't wait. And no, I didn't mean to suggest that ALL so-so reads make for good films either. There are a lot of factors that make or break good films.
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