Re: List of books
erespess@nji.com
Sun, 12 Dec 1999 23:03:45 -0500
>The only Spike Lee film I've seen is Poetic Justice, and I thought he did a
>mighty fine job of storytelling there -- the voyage narrative very nicely
>commenting on different facets of Black America.
Actually, Poetic Justice was directed by John Singleton, I think. I
thought that although Spike left a lot out of "X", he did a good job
with what He did leave in. 8) He completely neglected the last part
of his life (the conclusions Malcolm came to after becoming an
Orthodox Muslim) and focused solely on his being followed by various
groups and conspirators. That was disappointing to me, but I still
enjoyed what was there in the film.
>Course, any transition from book to film is entirely another matter. I've
>never seen one satisfactorily done. Books are too condensed ---
I thought Wharton's Midnight Clear was done wonderfully, but I can't
think of any other screen adaptation that I was happy with. I am
terrified of what Winona Ryder is going to do to "Girl, Interrupted."
>I just read some criticism about Beckett in which "time" in novels is
>contrasted with "time" on stage plays. The point was that time is somewhat
>"plastic" in novels. You can mess with it. Meanwhile, "time" on stage is
>pretty close to "real time" or the audience doesn't buy it too well. That's
>probably the biggest problem with transitioning from book to film. You
>either have to cut at lot out, or if you do try to include a little bit of
>everything you do a patch job.
This is a good point. I had never thought of that.
Elizabeth