(Image Credits [from top to bottom]: Netflix, Marvel.com, Marvel Entertainment, Rotten Tomatoes, [edited])
Nowadays, it's not uncommon for us to see our favourite books, comics, webtoons, stage plays and musicals translated onto the big screen. Beyond simply helping industry creatives handle the overwhelming pressure for new content, such shows also help production companies secure the most important aspect of a successful end product: viewership. As compared to investing in a completely original script, bringing existing stories onto the screen guarantees that the film or TV show will attract a sizable audience.
Having a large number of viewers, however, does not always equate to positive reception. Just because people are curious enough to watch the adaptation, does not mean that they will enjoy the way it has been modified. Too drastic a change often alienates fans of the original. Yet, making no changes at all runs the risk of boring the audience. Consequently, such shows often struggle to find the middle ground between two ends of the spectrum. So what exactly makes a good adaptation in the eyes of viewers?
The biggest arguments amongst fans have always centred around the fidelity of the adaptation to its source. There is no easy way out in this regard because producers cannot please everyone. Amongst those that have been popularly branded as successful adaptations, though, some have strictly followed their source materials while others have carved out whole new worlds based on the originals. Hence, the key here lies in how skilful the team is and how well they are able to convince the audience to buy into the show.
(Image Credit: Marvel.com)
Take for example the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Other than characters and story arc titles, most Marvel movies are, at most, loosely inspired by the events in the Marvel comics. Aside from certain scenes mirroring iconic panels from the comics, the similarities don’t go that far beyond the easter eggs that are scattered in the film. The writers of these films only take into account thematic fidelity by using broad ideas from the comic books as an outline for the way they want to detail a movie’s narrative. With this, MCU sets itself apart from other comic-to-movie franchises by treating each instalment as more than merely an adaptation. Perhaps a better description of the MCU films would be “homages”. The writers don’t go into the writing room thinking about how to re-enact what people have read. They seek to draw people into a whole new cinematic story with the lore they are creating while nodding to the iconic characters, events and arcs from the comics. At the end of the day, every film will have its critics, but the fact that Marvel has built up a roster of 23 films is testament to its success in devising adaptations.
(Image Credit: Rotten Tomatoes)
On the other hand, we have films like The Last Five Years, which basically got its audience to watch the original musical on the silver screen. Here, the movie is nearly identical to the musical, from the characterisation all the way to the sequence of events. Yet, the way this film is faithful to its source works in its favour because of many different factors. Unlike comic book series which provide an abundance of material to pick from, musical-to-film adaptations do not have the luxury of just borrowing broad themes. This means that in the process of transforming musicals into a movie script, narrative fidelity is just as important as thematic fidelity - which is why choosing an experienced director is just as important as (if not more important than) having a talented writer. Unlike watching a musical live, where the audience has a view of the entire set and stage, movie-goers rely on the director’s discernment in choosing how to frame the shot at any given moment. And in that regard, The Last Five Years definitely delivered in immortalising the musical in the form of a 90 min film. As film critic Jonathan Romney observed, “this does feel like an organic film rather than a show forced into movie glad rags.”
(Image Credit: Netflix)
Of course, when discussing the fidelity of adaptations, we also ought to consider the target audiences of the different versions. Shirley Jackson’s 1959 acclaimed gothic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House, for example, has been adapted into 2 films in 1963 and 1999, as well as a TV show in 2018 - and these are rather disparate cultural eras. While the 1963 film and 2018 TV version received glowing reviews - unlike the 1999 offering - the two obviously exhibit vastly different levels of similarity to the original novel. Everything that made it onto the screen in 1963 did not diverge far from the novel. While it may not have been a box office hit with general cinema patrons, its following has been steadily increasing, with horror fans applauding it for borrowing the elements of terror from Jackson’s novel, instead of rehashing typical genre tropes. On the other hand, the 2018 TV version produced for Netflix took the liberty to modify the entire premise and was still met with positive responses overall. Since a significant percentage of Netflix’s subscribers were not born yet when Jackson’s novel was published, the production team probably realised that their viewers may not be ready to consume and appreciate a literary ghost story from the 1950s in its entirety on the screen. Besides borrowing the title and certain details from the original, therefore, the show was intended to be a whole new story for a whole new generation.
So at the end of the day, how much of the source material remains intact proves not to be the be-all-end-all of an on-screen adaptation’s success. After all, whether it is a show on our screens or words/drawings on paper, narrative efficacy ultimately hinges on the flair of those who do the storytelling, and whether these creative minds can effectively transport the target audience from their couches or cinema chairs into whole new worlds.
Hungry for some on-screen adaptations right now? Here’s our list of recommendations:
Matilda (1996 film)
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005 film)
Jane Eyre (2011 film)
Still Alice (2014 film)
A Monster Calls (2016 film)
Christopher Robin (2018 film)
The Hunger Games (film series)
Scarlet Heart (2011 Chinese TV series) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016 South Korean TV Series)
Shadowhunters (2016 TV series)
True Beauty (2020 TV series)