Saturday, November 28, 2009
Fantastic Mr. Fox
To celebrate the holidays my family had it's traditional past-time of going to see a film in theaters. My family is obsessed with film, most likely this is the start of my interest in film studies, and whenever we get together we have to watch something in theaters. This ranges from the action packed superhero film to the recent family orientated cartoon. Well this holiday's film was Fantastic Mr. Fox. When I first heard that this film was being made I had my doubts about the quality of work I would see. Fantastic Mr. Fox is my favorite Roald Dahl book and I really didn't want to see it if it was going to be another Dr. Suess catastrophe. I realize that these are two very different types of books and that filmmakers have already adapted 3 of Dahl's books but I lost faith in children's films with it's recent releases. The first two recent adaptations of Suess books (How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat) were absolutely terrible and the fact that people would even consider making Where the Wild Things Are into a full length film baffles me still. So seeing that my favorite childhood book was being made into a film caused me to worry. Fantastic Mr. Fox was the first book that I really read by myself and it was the start of my love of books, so I couldn't handle a film that ruined the story I fell so deeply in love with. And even though I had conveyed these worries to my family when we were looking for a film, they decided it was the film to see. So I watched the film with bated breath and looked to see what kind of changes they had made to my story. As soon as the film was over everyone turned to me to see how I liked the film. I really don't know what I think of the film. It certainly wasn't the worst thing I've seen and it didn't destroy the story but at the same point it changed enough to make me queasy. Clooney's representation of Fox was funny and I loved the way that Anderson made the characters look. It was certainly a unique experience and style that can't be denied. I felt that it was a good attempt at making the story into a full length film but in the end it couldn't live up to my book. The ending of the book happened during the first half of the film and the ending of the film was the directors own creation. And while the ending wasn't terrible it just didn't have quite the same feeling as the book. The book ends with a feeling of victory and has Fox overcoming the farmers. The film seems like a no win situation and ends with survival as the main idea. They also added a moral undertone that we must accept others for their differences that really isn't in the original story. So while I don't despise the film, I just can't get behind it like I did when Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wes ANDERSON is one of my very favorite film makers. He always delivers just the comforting characters and style that I expect while simultaneously coming up with wonderful and unexpected twists.
ReplyDeleteWatching Mr. Fox, it hit me that not only does ANDERSON recycle actors, he recycles characters. Jason SCHWARZMAN'S character is a lot like Max Fischer from Rushmore. Bill MURRAY'S badger character had moments that reminded me of his character in the Royal Tenebaums. The cousin fox is almost exactly Luke WILSON'S character in Bottle Rocket.
Loops and themes comfort me. Sorry for the long monologue, Wes ANDERSON just gets me excited. But Charlie and the Chocolate factory was maybe a more faithful film adaption of a Dahl novel. It kills the '71 version and is a movie I would like to own.
Coincidentally it was on TV tonight! Maybe you can catch it again. I don't know the channel, maybe abc family.
You could write a whole blog about adaptations of children's books. Off my head there's; The Witches, Coraline, Howl's Moving Castle, Horton Hear's a Who, The Polar Express...
Ellen is right, you could do a whole blog based on adaptations of children's books. I myself liked The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, but loathed Prince Caspian.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I have never read Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I understand the pain of having the ending of the book in the middle of the story. Seriously. I know film allows for artistic license, but often it can feel like a betrayal of the book, not a refreshing relook at the book.
I found this link listing the "best" books-turned movies, basing it on faithfulness to the original story. I was surprised to find Schindler's List on there, actually, as Stephen Spielberg took some definite liberties with that one. But I was pleased to see Mystic River and Sense and Sensibility (although Jane Austen novels seem to have no real problems in translating to film adaptations:
http://www.wildaboutmovies.com/features/FaithfulAdaptations-TheBestNovelsTurnedMovie.php
Ah I always feel a similar sense of trepidation when I'm about to watch a film adaptation of a favorite book. Memoirs of a Geisha, for example, I refused to watch for like a year after it came out, because that's been one of my favorite books for years.
ReplyDeleteWhich do you think is better? Seeing the movie first, then reading the book, or the other way around? On the one hand, the book nearly always makes it so much harder to appreciate the movie. For example, I was pretty unimpressed with Memoirs, though I can objectively note that it is very aesthetically beautiful and well-made. But on the other hand, seeing the movie first kind of eliminates all of the imagination and creativity of visualizing the story for yourself--the director does it for you. Personally, I think it's still better to read the book first.
And Ellen: agreed, Anderson rules. But he totally recycles characters. I mean, Bill Murray plays essentially the same role in every single movie the two of them do together. Which is fine, Murray does a good job at it. I still think all the movies are great. When you sit down to watch an Anderson movie, you know exactly what you're getting yourself into.
Also, I really loved Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I think a lot of people hated on it because they grew up with Willy Wonka. And I never actually saw that, so maybe that's partly what freed me up to appreciate the new version so much. But I thought it was fantastic. Especially the squirrels.