Written as part of the blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. You should join us by picking three movies that fit into the weekly theme and telling us about them!
When I was a kid, I LOVED classic literature. I mean, I loved books in general, but I particularly had a thing for the classics. But when it came time to make these picks, I actually had a little trouble - most of my favorite pieces of classic literature haven't been made into films! Or, they have been made into films, but those films are not any good. But I did indeed find three that I like. I hope you do, too.
The Secret Garden (Agnieszka Holland, 1993) I have always loved
The Secret Garden, despite it's reputation as a book for girls. But it's more than earned its classic status, I think, because of how universal its story really is. Yes, it's about flowers and the protagonist is a young girl, but it's really about how awful it can be to be a child, and how playing outside (of all things) can have magical healing powers. When I was very young I couldn't play outside, because I was so allergic to pollen that before too long my eyes would start to itch and get all puffy and red and I would run inside, crying. I eventually saw an allergist and got shots that kept things under control, but I always loved the fantasy of this, and wished that I had an escape like the garden that this film so beautifully portrays. Like my next pick, there's such a warmth radiating from every frame of this film. It's purely enjoyable, even when its characters are insufferable.
Little Women (Gillian Armstrong, 1994) Deservedly garnering an Oscar nomination for Winona Ryder's Jo (she should have won), this may just be the definitive version of Louisa May Alcott's semi-autobiographical novel. The love of the source material pours through in every frame, but this is still a pretty clear-eyed take on the story. My favorite thing about this film is how lived-in everything feels - not only does the March family (Susan Sarandon as "Marmee" to Winona, Kirsten Dunst, Trini Alvarado, and Claire Danes) feel like a real warm, loving family, but their house feels like a real, albeit modest, house, and their clothes and things feel like they have been worn and loved for many years. Nearly everything about this is perfect.
Cruel Intentions (Roger Kumble, 1999) Okay, yes: Unlike my previous two picks, this one isn't anywhere close to perfect. HOWEVER, it is an incredibly stylish and VERY memorable update of
Les liaisons dangereuses, and epistolary novels are maybe the most difficult kinds of novels to adapt to film. Anyway, this is mostly here for the bitchy delight that is Sarah Michelle Gellar's take on Merteuil, who manipulates Valmont (here her stepbrother) into sleeping with, falling in love with, and then tossing aside the lovely, virginal Annette, and the AMAZING
opening scene with Swoosie Kurtz as Valmont's therapist.
BONUS PICK
Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, 1951)Lewis Carroll's fractured fairy tale has been adapted to film numerous times, but for my money no version got the tone right quite as much as the Disney animated version, which is funny, surreal, absurd, and slightly cruel while still being very much a sweet Disney film. Also, it clearly has the best Cheshire Cat of any other version.
I had a hell of a time this week so I ended up picking films I hated instead of ones I loved, but after reading your post I'm annoyed with myself because these three are excellent. (I used Secret Garden once before) I should've went with them. Damn it!
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while, picking films you hate is fun! But yeah, I thought more people would pick these actually...
DeleteI haven't actually seen any of your choices...however, Cruel Intentions sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteCruel Intentions is VERY 90s. I love it for what it is, but "what it is" is decidedly NOT great cinema. The cast is spectacular, though.
DeleteI SO almost went with Cruel Intentions. I love that movie! Love The Secret Garden too. I read that with my daughter and then we watched the movie together and she loved it.
ReplyDeleteI need to see Little Women again...it's been far too long.
I feel like Cruel Intentions is such a touchstone for people around our age.
DeleteThe Secret Garden and Little Women are such perfect family films, and great adaptations of their respective source material, as well. And you do need to see Little Women again. I watched it last year in preparation for doing the musical (I played the Professor, Gabriel Byrne's part), and was completely enchanted by it. And Claire Danes was a master of ugly cry-face even then!
Marvelous choices! I used Secret Garden already, I like that you were able to personalize the story to show the accessibility of its tale for all.
ReplyDeleteLittle Women has had sssssooo many versions, this is an excellent one. Have you ever seen the TV version with Susan Dey and Meredith Baxter Birney? It's not outstanding but Greer Garson plays Aunt March to crusty perfection.
Cruel Intentions! A good updating of its story, I'm not much of a fan of SMG but her abrasive personality fits this role well. And an animated film I've actually seen!! Disney does get the dark underpinnings of the story just right while still keeping in mind that it's a story for children and not making it too frightening.
I'm a big reader as well so and love classic lit so I was looking forward to this week. Of course I couldn't keep to three but managed to rein myself in to four:
The Return of the Soldier (1982)-Powerful version of Rebecca West's first novel. A wealthy middle aged man returns from WWI shell shocked and with no memory of his life for the past twenty years. He longs to see his first love, now a dowdy housewife, which his wife, a haughty brittle woman, can't comprehend and reacts to hostilely. Standing by on the sidelines is his cousin Jenny who has complicated feelings for him as well. Richly appointed drama is an acting showcase for Alan Bates, Julie Christie, Glenda Jackson and an almost unrecognizable Ann-Margret who are all superb.
Far From the Madding Crowd (1967)-Sweeping, gorgeously shot version of Thomas Hardy's dense novel. Julie Christie makes a beautiful Bathsheba, a young woman who has inherited a large estate and whose life becomes complicated by three men. Terence Stamp is fine as Sergeant Troy but the real acting comes from Alan Bates as the steadfast Gabriel Oak and Peter Finch as the tormented Boldwood. Deliberately paced but beautifully done.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)-Diamond hard noir with Lana Turner white hot in both dress and sexuality and John Garfield the poor sap who falls under her spell. Excellent direction and a great supporting cast make this adaptation of the James M. Cain novel one of the classics of the noir era. Avoid the Jack Nicholson/Jessica Lange remake, its trash.
Honorable Mention-Summer Storm (1944) - Olga, a beautiful young peasant girl brings tragedy to all who surround her including herself. Set in the Russian countryside this adaption of Anton Chekov’s The Shooting Party was one of Douglas Sirk’s earliest American films. Missing some of his signature stylistic touches he still uses shadows effectively and draws excellent work from his cast, especially George Sanders, as the troubled leading man for a change and Edward Everett Horton, in a more complex role than usual, that of a dissipated count. But the real standout is Linda Darnell in the first of the bad girl roles in which she excelled. She digs deep into Olga’s conflicted nature offering a passionate performance of an impulsive girl who is ultimately her own worst enemy.
Never saw the TV version of Little Women but LOVE Greer Garson so I'll have to seek it out (despite the presence of Meredith Baxter).
DeleteNever heard of The Return of the Soldier, book or film, but WOW that cast! Never read ...Madding Crowd, but wanted to see this in advance of the new version with Carey Mulligan.
Saw Postman for the first time last year and boy is it a hell of a noir. I liked it slightly less than Double Indemnity, but thought Lana Turner was incredible and John Garfield very fine indeed.
You mentioned Summer Storm earlier. It's definitely on my list, especially to see Edward Everett Horton actually getting to act!
I love the fact that you chose The Secret Garden and Little Women!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love those books and these film versions. I even love the sequels to Little Women (Little Men is one of my all-time favorite books).
DeleteI feel like I've missed something. I haven't seen or read any of your choices. Gotta lot a work to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly surprised you haven't at least seen Cruel Intentions. It's quite the nifty little exploitation flick. The other two are handsomely mounted, lovingly directed/acted adaptations of their source material.
DeleteCruel Intentions! I loved that movie!
ReplyDeleteAh, The Secret Garden; or How to Put a 9-year-old Boy to Sleep in a Movie Theater. Seriously, that's all I remember of it. I might appreciate it more now. Little Women always worked for me due to my thing for Winona Ryder and every other girl cast as a March sister. What a cast, right!? Cruel Intentions was so the shit when I was in high school. Sarah Michelle Gellar was pure sex in that movie. Nice picks!
ReplyDeleteLOL, yeah I know Secret Garden is VERY girly. I do think you'd appreciate it more now, though. It's very well-done.
DeleteYeah, that cast in Little Women is EVERYTHING.
SMG is FIRE in Cruel Intentions.
I love The Secret Garden but I think I've picked it too many times. I really like Cruel Intentions too. Have you seen the sequels or the other adaptations of Les liaisons dangereuses?
ReplyDeleteI'm just really really curious because I love classic adaptations - what are your favorite pieces of classic literature that haven't been made into films?
I've read Les liaisons dangereuses, but the only other version of it I've seen is Valmont, which is good but not great. In my freshman year of college I took a French course about French novels and their adaptation to film - we read the books (one in French, the rest in English) and watched the movies. Liaisons was one of them, also Madame Bovary, Hiroshima Mon Amour (we read the screenplay), and a very odd coming-of-age fantasy-esque novel whose title I forget.
DeleteAs for my favorites, I almost picked Lost In La Mancha because I LOVE Don Quixote but there hasn't been a decent movie version yet. Also Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables, Steinbeck's The Pearl, Willa Cather's Great Plains trilogy, Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, Alcott's Little Men, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and Richard Wright's Native Son haven't been made into films to my knowledge (I don't count made-for-TV stuff).
Ahh...I haven't seen Valmont yet. Have been trying to get the dvd of it. I was just about to say there was a TV version of Little Men, until I saw the not made-for-TV. I would usually agree to this, except of course some of the UK networks produces some great ones (although none of the titles you mentioned). Have you checked out any of them?
DeleteOh the BBC Dickens and Austen adaptations are ESSENTIAL. The recent Bleak House with Gillian Anderson was great. Thing is though, most of them are miniseries, not movies.
DeleteAs you know I cheated a bit with my picks for that week by also including the TV versions along with the movie versions. :) Anyway glad to know you've enjoyed the BBC ones. Love Bleak House, Little Dorrit and some of the 90s Dickens TV adaptations are great as well. Have you seen any of the Gaskell miniseries too? Sorry, once I talk about period dramas and adaptations I can't stop. :)
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