I agree with whoever said that the film/book comparisons are basically flawed - they are two different media with entirely different "languages".
As to the issue of a film being EXACTLY like the book, one that immediately came to my mind was "Beloved". Bless Oprah's heart, she tried. That book was one of the most emotionally harrowing experiences I've ever had - I even read it twice, which I rarely do. The film, on the other hand, was deadly slow and dull - I dozed off in the middle. By the same token, I thought "The Color Purple" did justice to the spirit of the book AND remained pretty faithful to the narrative - a very neat trick that not many filmakers can pull off. Both the book and the film made me cry. I've noticed that the best films made from Stephen King's writing have been from his non-horror genre stuff - "Stand By Me" "Shawshank Redemption". In fact, while he writes a crackerjack horror story, the films have been universally dismal, with the possible exception of "The Shining" - again, a film made by a masterful filmaker. Perhaps the fantasy world created in a book is so ingrained in the reader's imagination that it's next to impossible to recreate that visually in a way that won't disappoint. This seems to me to be the core problem with LOtR. I've never read Tolkien, but I know lots of people have and adore those books. It would seem that undertaking a film like this would just be a losing proposition all the way around - artistically that is, commercially it seems to be doing okay. A film must stand on its own as a film. I become most impatient when the relative value of a film is judged by how faithful it is to a book. I try never to do that personally, and go to a movie only expecting a good film. In fact, "Cider House Rules" is my favorite John Irving novel, and I never even attempted to see the film because I thought I wouldn't be able to be open minded - and John Irving did the screenplay himself! Someone here on the list commented that it is a better film than a book, so maybe I'll give it a shot. Sybil _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
