It's a generally accepted wisdom that films based on books are
never as good as the books themselves. Well, generally
accepted, maybe, but not by me.
I can think of any number of films where the production team
have taken a story and improved upon the work of the original
creator. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings for a start.
Whilst being a massive fan of the books for decades, I'd be first
to admit the films are better. Not in every respect, granted, there
are still scenes where Tolkein's version has the edge, but
generally, the story is tighter, more cohesive, more dramatic and
more powerful in Jackson's hands.
I heard PD James talk about this a couple of years ago, shortly
after the release of the film based on her fabulous book,
Children of Men. The film, as often happens, left great
swathes of the story behind and a question from the audience
clearly expected Lady James to slate it on these grounds alone.
She did the opposite; making the eminently sensible point that
given the choice between a great movie that departs from the
original story and a faithful representation that is nevertheless a
poor film, she would choose the former any day.
People often ask if there are going to be films made of my
books. Fingers firmly crossed, I reply, but these things take time.
They then ask, will it be difficult for me, seeing my story in
someone else's hands? Will I want to have input? Or even control?
To make sure they do justice to the book?
No. I want to stay well clear. I want to see someone else,
(preferably someone very talented, naturally) take my stories and
make them work in a new format.
I had a glimpse of that process this week, when the finalists
for the 2010 Book Video Awards were announced. For some months now,
students from the National Film and Television School, in
conjunction with Random House, Foyles Bookshops and The Bookseller
magazine, have been working on short promotional videos for some of
this season's crime novels and, by great good fortune (for me),
Blood Harvest was chosen by the immensely gifted Nele
Hecht.
I met Nele a couple of months ago when her ideas for Blood
Harvest had got her through to the final of the competition. I
was impressed immediately by her creative thought process, by her
ability to spot the ideas and themes in the written word that would
make powerful visual images. Obviously, here was someone who could
take the story I'd written, adapt it to a completely different
medium and - crucial point here - make it better. I began to get
very excited, not only about the trailer, but about a possible
future film.
I saw Nele's finished trailer for the first time a few days ago
and wasn't remotely disappointed. It's innovative, gripping and
seriously shocking - everything I would have hoped for and more.
You can see it for yourself, and the other three finalists, which
are also very good, on the link below:
www.foyles.co.uk/bookvideoawards2010
Do take a look, if you're brave enough; and vote for the lovely
Nele to win, if you agree with me that hers is easily the best. The
winner is announced on 15 October. Fingers crossed.