Adaptations pt. 1

They say in art, that every story has already been told in some form or another. In movies, that often leads to filmmakers borrowing and adapting previously written material for the "big screen". Stephanie Harrison gives credit to the authors behind the films in her book Adaptations: From Short Story To Big Screen. Harrison includes 35 short stories that have inspired filmmakers as well as commentary on the genres and process of adapting them.

This book is 600 pages. You have been warned. This will take a while.

Today I read "Part I: The Directors". Harrison describes how a director's relationship to the original author and the text can be one of translation, magic, collaboration, or theft. She uses as examples, the works of Raymond Carver ("Jerry and Molly and Sam"), Julio Cortázar ("Blow-Up"), Budd Schulberg ("Your Arkansas Traveler"), and Cornell Woolrich ("Rear Window"). Each of these stories represent extremely different styles, but were all adapted for screen as Short Cuts, 1993; Blow-Up, 1966; A Face In the Crowd, 1957; and Rear Window, 1954 respectively.

I hate to admit that I've seen none of these films. Yes, even Rear Window. But I plan to correct that major flaw throughout the course of my reading this book.