(originally posted May 22, 2008 on Writingscape V1.0)
I got the opportunity to watch Children of Men (2006) last night, and was very happy to do so because 1) the movie’s premise has always intrigued me and 2) I’ll watch Clive Owen in anything. ANYTHING, even a wrestling match. He’s THAT good. From the moment “Theo Faren” just missed being killed in a terrorist bombing on the street, I was transfixed. By the time the rebel/immigrant/army firefight was paused by the mere crying of a baby, I still hadn’t moved. (I might have blinked a few times, maybe.) When the movie was over and I was gathering my thoughts, a 2006 post I’d made about movies made from books came to mind.
I still feel the same way I did then. Even more so.
For the most part, Children of Men was accepted, but I do remember some people making those same old rumblings, moaning and whining because it wasn’t like the book, and this and that wasn’t done, and this and that was changed. Well, after checking out the detailed book synopsis, I say thank God for that. The big screen version worked perfectly for me as a movie. The plot changes, Owen’s harder-to-read Theo Faren against a faceless antagonist, the character additions and all kept the pacing and tone of this 2-hour journey crackling, and was exactly what I needed to stay engaged and holding my breath until the end. In book form, though, I think this plot would have needed a few more layers.
In the other corner, the book version, THE CHILDREN OF MEN, on screen would have been heavy, cumbersome, way too long to keep my interest level, and plot-holed to hell without everything included. But for reading, it’s perfect–incredibly layered, a bottomless hole of character introspection, antagonist versus protagonist mentally and physically head-to-head. Not to mention the world-building. Wow.
In my opinion, both versions are superb in the mediums in which they are done–without having to be the exact same story in both places. There are a lot of stories just like that. And have been for years.
Whenever possible, I prefer seeing “the movie” before reading “the book”, the opposite of the norm. Hard to do these days, I know. But maybe that’s why I don’t turn into a rabid rottweiler when something changes between page and screen. Who knows?
