Hipster Voice: I read the book before it was a movie.

One of my favorite things in the world is when a book I love is turned into a film or series.

It's also one of my least favorite things.

I'm sure every book lover has the exact same Jekyll-Hyde thing going on in their own minds. You get excited that someone else loves the text as much as you and possesses the resources to bring it to the screen. You cannot wait to see the costumes, hear the score, experience the sets as more than just an abstract concept in your mind. 

But sometimes they cast an actor who, in your humble opinion, just does not do the character justice. Or they skip parts of the book {for the sake of time, usually} that are actually really important. Or {horror of horrors!} they change things! Names and backstories and pivotal scenes are re-imagined {Yara Greyjoy, for example, doesn't exist in the books. Her name is Asha. Still don't know why they felt the need to change it}. 

Sometimes, when the author is a part of the process, I find it easier to swallow. For example, the character Murtagh Fitzgibbons from Diana Gabaldon's series Outlander dies on the page in a British prison in the third book. But for the Starz adaptation, they shipped him off to America, and he returns to the screen during the fourth season. It makes me wonder if she later regretted killing him off, and by doing the series, she was able to rectify that mistake. I also find it easier to forgive if I know the script writers are pulling from other material. Portions of The Hobbit series are pulled from the appendices written by Tolkien. Parts of one of the movies I am going to talk about in depth are taken from the author's own biography. 

Luckily for me {and you, maybe}, the three books-to-movies I am going to talk about in this post are extremely well done, in my opinion, so you don't have to worry about a long-winded rant. I have watched all of them in the past eight months, even though one is a little older {and by a little, I mean like a year}.

Little Women

I'm not entirely sure how a person turned on the tv or watched something online without seeing at least one trailer for Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women, which came out in December. Now, I don't think I am going to say anything too spoilery {the book was written in the 1860s} or critical, but before you "come at me" with your snarky comments, know this. 

My first introduction to Little Women was via this illustrated classic version which I got for Christmas when I was in third or fourth grade. I watched the Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn version with my grandmother on VHS more times than I can count. I received the VHS of the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon {and Christian Bale as Laurie} for Christmas one year {and it was on VHS, so you know that was a while ago}. I visited Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, where she wrote Little Women. I went to see the new 2019 version like the day after it came out with my dear friend, Abigail, who worked on the stage crew for the Broadway version {when it was done by KVTA last spring}. SO I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, OKAY??!!

There were so many things that I loved about this version. The non-linear way it was told, using lighting and color to distinguish between the "past" and the "present" portions of the story. The score. The actors {for the most part, I really enjoyed their performances}. The bread in that one scene when Jo just grabs it off the table...it looks so good. AMY'S SPEECH TO LAURIE! FINALLY SOMEBODY SAID IT! The way they mixed in Louisa May Alcott's actual experiences when publishing Little Women with Jo's publication story--just wonderful. 

In fact, most of the things I didn't like were what some people might call nitpicky. For instance, Jo's hair is supposed to be dark. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth does that matter? BECAUSE. IT. DOES. When Jo cuts her hair to sell to a wigmaker so that Marmee has enough money to go visit their sickly father in a Union army hospital, the wigmaker doesn't want to buy it because it is dark and therefore less fashionable, which leads to some great speeches on Jo's part. But Saorise Ronan has light hair, so that entire scene isn't worth showing. 

I came across this video of a historic fashion aficionado talking about the costumes {which won an Oscar, by the way}. It is so good and really interesting. I won't say anything about the costumes here, because I think you should watch it. {BTW, I thought the costumes were gorgeous, but I appreciate the video anyway}. 

I also think some of my "criticisms" of the film stemmed from the fact that the BBC just did a mini-series of Little Women in 2017 which aired on PBS, and I loved it. Like beyond loved it. And if you aren't sure it's worth your time, I am going to leave you with five words:  ANGELA LANSBURY AS AUNT MARCH. 

Wow, there are a lot of all caps in this section. Maybe there will be less in the next one.

Emma

I'm going to preface this by saying that Emma is my least favorite of Jane Austen's six novels. If I had to rank them, it would be number six. But "least favorite" is a very long way from saying I don't like it. I do like it. I love it. It's an amazingly well written masterpiece that is not just a romance. In fact, it is actually a commentary on the zoning laws of the period and how the nation's traditional way of zoning left scores of people hungry and homeless. But sure, if you want to focus on the romance, go right ahead.

I'll only say that the reason Emma is my least favorite Austen is because Emma is my least favorite heroine. She grows a lot in the book, but I find her hard to take. That's just my opinion. 

On another side note, Emma was the last movie I saw in theaters before the shutdown. Like literally, I saw it on March 15. There were five other people in the theater {of course, that could just be because the movies I like to see in theaters aren't always the big ticket blockbusters...both times I saw Downton Abbey, there were less than ten people in the theater with me}.

So what did I love about Emma? The costumes. The scenery. The music {some people didn't appreciate the folky music that played throughout the movie, but I thought it lent some credence to the time period...people who lived in an agricultural community would probably not have been playing classical music on repeat. They would have been singing hymns and folk songs as they walked and worked}. Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse was brilliant! The acting was great, I thought. It was a really enjoyable film.

What didn't I like? The nosebleed scene. I don't understand why it had to be in there. It was just kind of weird. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I have put off watching this on Netflix for almost a year. I absolutely love the book, and it was going to really break my heart if it wasn't a good film. The other two movies in this post have multiple versions. There is only one, so if Dawsey Adams wasn't quite what I thought he might be, then I was stuck with him. 

This book is told in a series of letters between the main character, Juliet. She is an author living in London just after World War II. She lived there throughout the war, and she has published a book of war stories when she receives a letter from a Mr. Dawsey Adams from the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war, and Mr. Adams has a copy of a book that Juliet donated to a charity, which happened to have her address in it. He wrote to her asking for more book recommendations, which led Juliet to visit him and meet the members of his book club:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'm doing a terrible job of explaining it. 

I thought the Netflix film was amazing! It was one of those movies where I cried for the last half hour or so and then immediately wanted to rewatch it when the credits rolled. Some people don't care for Lily James as an actress, but I personally love her. I've loved her since she was Lady Rose on Downton. I think she's very accessible and believable. She did an amazing job. Guernsey itself looks beautiful, and I really want to visit now. And Isola, who is my favorite character in the book, was amazingly brought to life on the screen. I can't even do a good job of telling you why it was such a good adaptation. It just was. I feel it deep in my reader's heart. The only thing I can tell you to do is to watch it yourself, if you have a Netflix subscription. And then read the book {or do it the other way around}. 

If you've seen and/or read these titles, what did you think? And what are your favorite book-to-screen adaptations? I'd love to check some of them out!