Movie Adaptations
Written word vs. Cinematic atrocities
Kelsey Phillip '25
Design Editor
We’ve all had a book that we loved turn into a movie, whether it was “Harry Potter” or “The Hunger Games.” Oftentimes, adaptations aren't on par to the book, like “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children” trying to condense too many books into one movie; or Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” and its weird psych ward plot. In this article, I will be talking about movie adaptations of different books that are a part of the Louisville curriculum.
First up is “Speak” from Freshman year. We all remember how impactful that book is and its ability to set the tone for all the books that we read for the next four years. The film adaptation of “Speak” stars Kristen Stewart before Twilight. There are no huge plot points taken away from the movie except for when Melinda gives her final confession, it isn’t to Mr. Freeman, it’s to her mother.
The novel "Pride and Prejudice" next to a DVD of the film adaptation
For Sophomore year, we learned about the writing of Jane Austen through her novel, “Pride and Prejudice.” Whether you choose to watch the movie or the BBC series, neither one is too far off from the plot. Though the movie, starring Kira Knightly, does have some location variations, it does not lose sight of the original purpose of the book.
Junior year, we read “The Great Gatsby,” but whether you watch the Robert Redford version or the Baz Luhrmann version depends on how historically and book accurate you want it to be. In the Robert Redford version, Nick is taken to meet Gatsby rather than by a whim. It also adds more background on Daisy and Gatsby when they are beginning their affair.
For the Baz Luhrmann version, it almost feels like it is set right in 2010. From the soundtrack featuring Jay-Z and the rambunxious partying which lacks time accurate charleston-ing the movie does not feel entirely book accurate. Along with that, there is also an entire addition of the “Nick is crazy and in a psych ward” plot, which is completely out of left field and unrelated to the actual book.
No movie can replace the feeling of reading a book or completely capture the entirety of the page onto the screen. This is because no movie has been able to capture the whimsy and every little detail of a book in the span of an hour and thirty minutes. The joy of reading is much better than the feeling of wondering when a movie will finally be over.