Don't think it's much of of secret that some authors fucken hate the director's 'interpretation' of their work when they magically turn words into pictures.
I notice that the director that did Frank Miller's '300' and 'Sin City' kept asking himself, "what would Frank do", when he came up against some directing issues. Having said that, all five minutes of 'The Spirit' that I watched was total shit. Maybe the comic was too.
Do directors have the right to 'interpret' an author's piece of work, or do they owe it to the author give it their best?.
Thursday 11 June 2009
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If they don't, they're not a director. They're a producer, or a logistics manager. I don't think it's possible to direct a film and NOT put your thumbprint on it. If the author's sold the rights for the film to be made, it's entirely at the director's discretion as to whether their vision is maintained.
ReplyDeleteTake that unleaded version of Felafel which got made into a movie f'rinstance. JB ended up taking his name off it in the end I think (he wrote about it in Off Ones Tits.)
In short - yeah, it'd be nice, and yeah, there's some circumstances where it's a good PR move - but once the story is sold, it's all care but no responsibility.
Yeah, I was thinking of JB but didn't want to speak for him.
ReplyDeleteTo my way of looking at things, the Dr. is right. I would bet a year's salery the writer did not fucken hate the director's 'interpretation' of the value of the words on paper.
ReplyDeleteCan't disagree either.
ReplyDeleteIt's the original problem with turning books into films.
ReplyDeleteThe joy of books is enabling the reader to picture their own version of the characters, or locations, events etc etc. A film stamps it down, fixes it permanently in your mind's eye. Sometimes the reaction is a distaste to what
For example, the "Felafel" movie for me was god-awful. I watched it once, and have never gone back. But I've spoken to a lot of people who enjoyed it - particularly those who hadn't read the book first. Those same people tended to be rather surprised if they came to the play in April/May - they didn't really have a point of reference for lots of it. Particularly the dildos.
Mind you, you could argue nobody was really ready for those dildos. ;)
...sorry, forgot to finish a sentence there. Damn head spinniness!
ReplyDelete"Sometimes the reaction is a distaste to what the director has chosen to put before you, which then cancels out your own imaginative interpretion. You can often feel like you're "wrong" or they're "wrong" and heated feelings follow."