By: Deanna McFadden
September 2007
 The first few days of September are always jam-packed with events signaling the start of new things, from the first day of school to the leaves changing colours, this month always signifies a new start in many ways. But for most of us Torontonians, September always brings the film festival, in all its star-studded, media-frenzied, celluloid goodness. And so that got me thinking. Yes, there are author events going on in the city, but in the weeks that lead up to the IFOA (taking place this year at the Harbourfront from October 17th - October 27th), your reading life might be better served by contemplating why the book is, for the most part, always better than its filmed counterpart.
It's almost impossible these days to hit the multiplex without realizing the impact books have made in terms of source material. With the last pages having collectively turned on the last Harry Potter book, it's up to the films now to carry the torch in terms of bringing new material to a rabid audience. Right now, no less than five films playing last weekend were created from books: the aforementioned Harry Potter, The Bourne Ultimatum based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name (even if it's alike only in name), The Nanny Diaries, a filmed adaptation of Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus's bestseller, Becoming Jane, a mainly fictional movie based on the life of the impeccable Jane Austen (who we'll see even further bastardized [did I say that out loud] in the upcoming Jane Austen Book Club, which is actually showing at TIFF), and Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I mean even Ethan Hawke takes self-indulgence to a new level as he's turned his semiautobiographical novel The Hottest State into a film starring, well, among others, himself (seriously).
Somehow, the need to see what's produced in our mind's eye while reading turned into something three dimensional and in Technicolor might just be as old as the movie itself. But in that same breath, somehow the film's never quite live up to our expectations. One of this year's most hyped films, No Country for Old Men, also playing at TIFF, is based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. Directed by the Coen brothers, after winning raves at Cannes, the picture seems poised for Oscar talk already, but will it actually pay homage to the source material in a way that won't ruin the novel? Somehow, despite knowing the quality of films produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, a little tingling, niggling taste in my mouth says that it won't come close to echoing the haunting nature of McCarthy's prose.
Another high profile actor, Sean Penn, turns his eye behind the lens for the adaptation of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction title of the same name, Into the Wild. Will it be a lush fictional take on a real story or become another insipid, 'inspired by true events' made for TV movie has yet to be decided with the film, again, showing at TIFF, a festival known to make or break many important Fall pictures before they hit wide release.
The way that books and movie influence one another doesn't stop at source material. If a film does big business, let us be reminded once again of Tolkien, it could mean millions in terms of book sales for an author. True again in opposition: if a film tanks, it takes the book with its specially designed, artfully "inspired by the movie art" cover right down with it, Charlotte's Web anyone? There are even the ubiquitous 'inspired by the movie' fictionalizations, popularized by big budget films like Spider-man, these books are churned out to an alarming degree, and certainly disproving the theory that the printed word reigns supreme. But there might just be one book to prove false this thought as well, as Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Shekhar Kapur's pedigreed follow-up to the 1998 drama about the British monarch, has a novelization (also called Elizabeth: The Golden Age by Tasha Alexander) coming out in October, which just might be good—only time will tell. For those of you lucky enough to see the film at the festival, be sure and pick up a copy and let me know.
For now, I'm going to continue to try and read the book before I see the movie. Just so my imagination won't be spoiled by seeing Tommy Lee Jones as the lead character or realizing that Emile Hirsch truly embodies the spirit of Christopher McCandless as Krakauer wrote him and keeping back that little piece of magic that only your mind can make at least until I've got a full bag of popcorn and some Milk Duds in hand before the lights go down.
What's on:
Toronto mainstay Ben McNally has announced his Fall Brunch Series line up. The event on December 9th with Tom Perrotta (author of Little Children, another glowing book-to-film example) looks truly promising, but in truth every event he puts on is stellar so you won't be disappointed if you attend one or all.
In other Ben McNally news, he's also got the self-titled Ben McNally / International Readings Travellers' Series in conjunction with Harbourfront starting up on September 26th with an action-packed event with Jane Christmas, Jonathan Garfinkel, and Ian Klaus. And while we're on the topic of the Harbourfront, don't miss the fact that their weekly Wednesday reading series begins again on September 19th. The authors up at the podium that night include: Shauna Singh Baldwin, Robert Hough and Stephen Marche.
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