Zen and the Art of Film Adaptation

Some time back, my friend forwarded me a link to a review he wrote of the Batman movie… he hated it (“tears of blood”, as I recall). He felt real anguish over this appalling rendition of his beloved hero, and how it had missed (by a long shot) the depth and character of the Dark Knight’s saga.

It had me wondering: is it possible to successfully transliterate a beloved tale from one medium to another? The Graphic novel heritage of the Batman is a particularly difficult one to harness, striding both the written and the visual. Batman wouldn’t be the same in just text, and the over-the-top visual confetti in most Hollywood films isn’t the answer either.

This begs the question: is it even possible? Case in point: The Lord of the Rings. I had such intense expectations from the film (everybody knows that), and really looked forward to the film versions. But Fellowship was such an intense letdown. To me it seemed such a poor representation of the richness of Middle Earth, a watered-down poor man’s version of an amazing story. But I still simply adored the films, and saw them over and over again. Aditya was utterly sick of my fixation with Arwen’s entrance… I must have seen that 18 second clip over a thousand times… no kidding. I convinced people to watch the films, and ended up watching them again. People were pissed with my running commentary, but politely tolerated my fawning over these films.

To me the films were appalling. They had more flaws; factual and otherwise; than I can list here. But it was still LOTR. The story had me so worked up that even the poor onscreen rendition moved me to tears. The party tree, Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf… everything reminded me of the little things, from the book. The characters on screen were strengthened and reinforced by the book. The hobbits’ love of the Shire, their irrepressible joy and true nature; Aragon’s sense of destiny, and his willingness to give it all up… nothing was in the film, but it was in my mind. I couldn’t help but make the connection, and thus made the emotional connection to the characters on the screen.

So what is it then? What constitutes a successful crossover from book to box office? Artistic considerations aside (gasp!); it can’t cater to only a niche audience. I’ve been told that the ‘soul’ of the work should remain the same. Well, is it even possible? Every medium has its idiosyncrasies, and they do not translate well. While in Manga 10 frames devoted to a single falling drop is completely legit, for a smug movie version to attempt such a visual haiku would be hara-kiri. I know I’m going to be told… but what of Anime? Wouldn’t that be a visual rendition of Manga? Yes, but only to an extent. The idiosyncrasies don’t translate. Every Manga I have seen predominately uses Hiragana for the text, which has a tremendous influence on the overall effect the dialogue creates. Consider Anime in the original Japanese and the dubbed English versions. The effects they create are quite different. The English renditions strive for believability (which they achieve), while the Japanese voiceovers rarely try to create lifelike characters. The characters are more exaggerated, the girls are squeakier, and the men gruffer, and throughout an Operatic quality predominates. I understand some of the changes must be made for western audiences, and different audiences react differently.

But then, what counts as a successful crossover? Can any film hope to faithfully represent a cinematic version of a beloved classic? It’s said Bruce Wayne/Batman has mastered all forms of martial arts, and has attained complete physical mastery of his body. We must accept this, because it is part of canon. How is it possible for a man to ‘master’ the martial arts without understanding its meditative soul? It’s not. Yet Batman remains a deeply flawed man, clinically even a psychopath. Is it even possible for such a man to master the martial arts? Yet canon says so. 90 year old Zen Masters struggle to grasp the true spirit of a single Aikido Dojo, and yet this skinny white boy shows up and pulls a Karate Kid on them. Suspension of disbelief, yes; but a film must achieve that and more. A Batman film cannot target only Bat freaks. It has to reach out and be understood by audiences varying in their knowledge of Batman back stories. The true spirit of the Batman saga must come across to them as well. How do you do that? How much of the story can be deemed trivial and cut away? At what point are you cutting into the soul of story? Where does that Rubicon lie?

I can only say I do not envy the task.

My advice to Christopher Nolan… don’t ever sleep with the lights out. Be afraid of the dark. Be very afraid.