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Literature versus film. A century old dilemma

The significance of literature and films in contemporary times

Literature in past time was considerate as the only source of
accumulate information and knowledge. It meant all that the world
can know about developments in the field of culture, science,
technology, biology, psychology, etc. Thus, literature has always
served as the only source of information from all around the world.
People also used literature as way of passing time in their leisure
time.

But with the apparition of films, this has changed. Films

offered them a more easy way to access all this. Reading was
replaced with watching images and the information was transmitted
much faster.
Since then the two fields became competitors. Some people still
prefer book and other prefer only films or both. Each of them can
bring positive and negative aspects.
Literature and films have become these days so important in the
life of an individual that it can be said that they are both part of our
culture. Therefore they both contribute to the intellectual and
emotional development of a person. They became interdependent to
each other and they cannot be separated. Nevertheless some people
will split them and talk only from one perspective.

Interactions between film and literature

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Both literature and films melt in the same place where a variety of
cultures are reunited with history. Different genres of literature as
poetry, novels and plays are present in film scripts that can be seen
as literature. Therefore there is a history of bond between film and
literature, from theatrical narratives of the silent film era to recent
blockbuster adaptations of Shakespeare and Jane Austen.
Films are telling and retelling stories, and most of those stories are
still being (or have been) appropriated from literary or dramatic
sources. Adaptation has always been central to the process of
filmmaking since almost the beginning. 1 But was not an easy job to
connect literature with films. Geoffrey Wagner said that to make an
adaptation of a book implies three types of transition: transition of
fiction into films (a book is given directly on the screen with a
minimum of apparent interference), commentary (re-emphasis or
restructure in which the original is altered) and analogy (departure
for the sake of making another work of art). Dudley Andrew, a
decade later categorized other three modes of adaptation under
other names: borrowing (extend the material, idea more or less),
intersecting

(the

uniqueness

of

the

original

text

is

left

unassimilated) and transforming (fidelity for the book is lost). 2 All

these explain why the film is like the book or the film is not like the
book. People in the film industry decide what is better for public
and they will anticipate or predict the verdict. There are a lot of
1James M. Welsh, Peter Lev, The Literature/Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation, UK:
THE SCARECROW PRESS, 2007, p 7
2 Thomas M. Leitch, Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From Gone With the Wind
to the Passion of the Christ , USA: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, p 93
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persons who read first a book and then see the film and then say
that "The book was better." This happens because they have already
made their own perfect film version. They have visualized it: the
locations, the characters, the actions. In one word they savored
every word that they read.3 They had become witnesses of their own
thinking that was shaped by their background knowledge of world.
Films not only that they give the text already imagined by someone
else but they offer a bigger opening to the world. That is way both
have an important contribution. Sometimes a person cannot
understand the message of a book but after seeing the film things
are more visible. Films can adapt books to contemporary times and
to emphases what is important or not important. A person who
wants to deliberate and discover the message by himself can read
the book that offers more details. Films also can offer one
understanding that opens new perspective. Therefore both literature
and films can help each other for a better understanding. Films try
to put thoughts into words, emotions into gestures, descriptions
into actions. And adapters try to satisfy almost every reader also
please the audience.4 There is one difference that separates them:
images. In books the images are in the mind of the reader who
creates them and in films are in front of the viewer made by
someone else. This small difference makes them important as
individual creation, but together they have a stronger force.
3RICHARD CORLISS, Books Vs. Movies, Sunday, Nov. 27,
2005http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1134742,00.html[21.06.2012,
16:24]

4 , RICHARD CORLISS , Books Vs. Movies Sunday, Nov. 27,

2005http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1134742,00.html [24.06.2012, 7:15]

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John Poff says in an article that when the five minute story is
read or the two hour movie is finished what have we really learned
about ourselfs other than what we've been able to simply relate to
is a lot. He points out that it's very hard to distinguish the
difference in our society between a book and a movie. 5
That is way we need to read books but also to watch films.
Poetry in films
What makes a movie more interesting is when is inspired by
poetry. There are poems that each time you read each time you
understand something else. Films that are inspired from there
poems are made in the same perspective that to understand each
time something else. They give lots of possibilities of thinking.
Poetry as a source of emotions is hard to be translated into a
film. Malcolm Lowry saw a difficulty of combining the rhythm of a
spoken word with the visual rhythm. He thinks that there is little
future for poetic drama or Shakespeare in movies. For Lowry films
are seen as enemies of poetry in poetrys terms because the
camera is reduced to functioning outside the whole. Camera does
not compete with the poetry; it is inferior to poetry because they
belong to separates worlds and time. With the development of the
cinematic techniques the images are functioning abundantly,
vibrantly, immediately and also evocatively and symbolically.
Therefore almost like a rhythm.6

5 John Poff, Literature vs film, January 18, 2007 Last Updated: May 08, 2007,
Online: http://www.helium.com/items/125864-literature-vs-film [24.06.2012, 7:00
am]
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The use of poetry in a film is a signal of cultural status. Poetry is

considerate more than just another high art, a noble fiction with a
compelling plot, it also appears in relatively complicated ways with
respect to narratives.7 Poetry stands in between the narratives, in
an abstract, timeless space of sheer repetition. The imagers pauses
narratives with motionless space, with deliberation, contrast and
clarity. The use of poetry is conventional and depends what degree
of use has in films: if its self-referential (the poems name the film)
or are arguably deidealized.8
Orson Welles said that A film is never really good unless the
camera is an eye in the head of a poet. The adapters try to
understand the intention of the poet for a better understanding of
the poem. To demonstrate this I will talk about Edgar Allan Poe and
his poems transposed in films. It is necessary to talk about the
author intentions in his poems in order to talk about the films. Poe
talks about three basic qualities of process of writing: brevity, single
effect and beauty. By beauty he means a poem or a story length
capable of being read in completion, in one sitting so that the
single effect will not be diminished or destroyed by interruption.
These two values are used by filmmakers for length and limitation
of films. It is needed a limited duration for audience that can be
consumed in a single sitting so that the single effect of the film not
be lost. By beauty or the poetical, Poe means the excitement or
6 Jane Campbell,James Doyle,Flora Roy, The Practical Vision: Essays in English
Literature in Honour of Flora Roy, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1978
p.129.
7 Steven Dillon, Derek Jarman and Lyric Film: The Mirror and the Sea, , USA:
University of Texas Press, 2004, p 7
8 Jane Campbell,James Doyle,Flora Roy, p. 10
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pleasurable elevation of the soul. 9 In The Poetic Principle he talks

about the superior reality-the absolute ideal of beauty. That is way
the reason that his protagonists from his poems are alone and
alienated and progress to this ethereal ideal. 10 He expressed his
agonies in the body of his work which reflected his inner torment. 11
This explains the dark side of the films. In the films is domination
for his fascination with pain and torture. The London Times
(August 4, 1935) explained that the films were made for horror
and for for horrors sake.12 The intention of the films was to
construct Poes torture device in his cellar which became part of
revenge.
The Raven can be seen as a film about the kind of madness and
focus on an exploitation of frequently distorted views of the writer
and his work. Roger Corman finds the distorted camera scenes
closer to capture the authentic nightmare of Poes horror. 13 Poes
try to show in his poem the pursuit of la ide, a pursuit that is the
act of madness as humdrum existence of life which led as the
business

of

trivialities.

From

this

perspective

madmen

are

visionaries, but their visions are only the dubious apparitions of

9 Linda Costanzo Cahir.Literature Into Film: Theory And Practical Approaches.USA:
McFarland, 2006, p.188
10 P.189
11 Tom Weaver,Michael Brunas,John Brunas.Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic
Films.1931-1946, Carolina: McFarland, 2007, p. 139
12 P.147
13 Kevin J. Hayes.The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.2002, p. 217
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truly mad men.14 The bird is transformed into an annunciator of a

sorrowful of terrifying. The film from 1963 is not totally faithful to
the Poes poem: Dr. Craven is the son of a great sorcerer (now dead)
who was once himself quite skilled at that profession, but has since
abandoned it. One evening, a cowardly fool of a magician named
Bedlo comes to Craven for help- the evil Scarabus has turned him
into a raven and he needs someone to change him back. He also
tells the reluctant wizard that Craven's long-lost wife Lenore, whom
he loved greatly and thought dead, is living with the despised
Scarabus. This first film took some elements from the poem, but it
wasnt enough for the public. Filmmakers needed to expand the
poem and add some action. The same they did with The Raven from
2012. They kept only the essentials. John Cusack plays the role of
the embattled writer, who solves a series of Baltimore murders
based on his own gruesome tales in the fictional last days of his life.
Here is not about the person in the poem but about the author. The
actor who interprets his role said that "Poe is sort of a journeyer
into

the

subconscious.

He's

like

Orpheus

descending.

He's

straddling both worlds and sort of exploring through it and using all
the sorrow in his life as an alchemist to turn it into all this cool
stuff."15 Megan Suckut give a verdict to the movies and says The
Raven tends to be unbelievable in its explanations of Poe's life and
death, and is sometimes reminiscent of National Treasure, the
quality of its acting and writing make it a movie worth watching. 16
Images, lighting, angles and camera movements respect the
14 Linda Costanzo Cahir. Literature Into Film: Theory And Practical Approaches.
USA: McFarland, 2006, p.189
15 Megan Suckut. The Raven upholds Poe's legacy while frightening viewers. April
27 2012. Online: http://northbynorthwestern.com/story/the-raven-and-the-legacy-ofpoe/
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deteriorating mental states and also an impressionistic style of

psychological in terror and mystery.

Techniques in films develop

during the years and so the psychological terror and mystery grew.
The uses of heavy camera blur and the extremely unsteady scene
pull the audience into the shoes of Poe. The question is why is a
tendency for the people to identify the person from the poem with
the author? They are not the same persons even if the piece of art
was shaped by the authors life. Seeing the film and reading the
poem would provide a better understanding.
In conclusion literature is an inspiration for films and a source of
supply. They need each other to irrigate the deserts that our lives
have already become. They have a powerful impact on individuals
mind and enrich the soul. Films can become literature and can
become useful in the individuals intellectual growth.

Bibliography
1)

Corliss, Richard. Books Vs. Movies. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2005,

Online:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1134
742,00.html [24.06.2012, 7:15]
2) Leitch, Thomas M. Film Adaptation and Its Discontents: From
Gone With the Wind to the Passion of the Christ. USA: The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2007.

16
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3) Poff, John. Literature vs film. January 18, 2007

Last Updated:

May 08, 2007, Online: http://www.helium.com/items/125864literature-vs-film [24.06.2012, 7:00 am]

4) Welsh, James M., Lev, Peter. The Literature/Film Reader: Issues of
Adaptation. UK: THE SCARECROW PRESS, 2007.
5) Campbell, Jane, Doyle, James and Flora Roy. The Practical Vision:
Essays in English Literature in Honour of Flora Roy. Ontario: Wilfrid
Laurier University Press, 1978.
6) Dillon, Steven. Derek Jarman and Lyric Film: The Mirror and the
Sea. USA: University of Texas Press, 2004
7) Cahir, Linda Costanzo. Literature Into Film: Theory And Practical
Approaches. USA: McFarland, 2006.
8) Weaver, Tom, Brunas, Michael
Horrors:

The

Studio's

Classic

and John Brunas. Universal

Films.

1931-1946,

Carolina:

McFarland, 2007.
9) Hayes, Kevin J. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
10) Megan
frightening

Suckut.

The

viewers.

Raven
April

upholds
27

Poe's

legacy

2012.

while
Online:

http://northbynorthwestern.com/story/the-raven-and-the-legacyof-poe/[21.06.2012]
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