In honor of finals week, I decided to take a look back at some of my favorite adaptations of books that are popular in English classes.
- Hamlet
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Hamlet is my favorite of the Shakespeare plays that I read in high school. There are two adaptations of Hamlet that I love. First is Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 version. Sure, it may be 4 hours long, but it’s a beautiful movie and spares no details. Branagh himself plays Hamlet, with Kate Winslet as Ophelia and a star studded cast, including Robin Williams. The second version I love is the 2000 version starring Ethan Hawke as Hamlet. It’s basically a knock-off of what Baz Luhrmann did with Romeo + Juliet, but since I love the modern updates, it still worked for me. However, unlike Branagh’s Hamlet, you can’t take this one too seriously. It’s kind of strange (Hamlet performs the iconic third soliloquy as an internal monologue in a Blockbuster), but it’s fun to say the least.
- The Outsiders
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Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s classic novel was my favorite movie for the longest time since I watched it in middle school. With an iconic cast, The Outsiders tells a great story about friendship and brotherhood. The Complete Novel Extended Edition is the version that I would recommend watching, as it seems more complete than the original cut and has more scenes from the book in it as well.
- The Great Gatsby
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The Great Gatsby has a total soft spot in my heart. I started loving the book and the movies when I was in middle school, and they’ve been some of my favorites ever since. Despite what the critics say (they don’t look very highly on either version of the movie) I still love them. I think that both movies are well casted and each version is completely different, which makes them both unique in their own way.
- To Kill a Mockingbird
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To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic. Gregory Peck won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Atticus Finch, and the movie in total had eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. To Kill a Mockingbird is a moving tale of family, injustice, and standing up for what you believe in.
- Pride and Prejudice
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The 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series starring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is a fun and faithful adaptation to Jane Austen’s classic romance novel. I can’t say that Pride and Prejudice is the kind of movie that I usually watch, but I fell in love with this adaptation, which has an amazing score by Carl Davis.