Movie directors often look to literature to provide them with inspiration. It is a two-way street – the upside is that you step on something already known, something that has its own life and sentiment. The downside is there might be millions of people out there that you can disappoint if your version of their favourite book does not match theirs.
But every once in a while a magic happens and the right director and cast work on the right book to create a masterpiece. From blood-chilling thrillers to fantasy epics, from historical dramas to mafia flicks – here are the ten best movies of all time based on books!
10. Gone Girl
Based on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, 2012.
The newest movie on the list, the David Fincher’s adaptation of the total bestseller by Gillian Flynn was among the best movies of 2014. Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck play a disfunctional couple who try to outsmart each other in destroying their lives. Shocking, brilliant, tense, dramatic and violent, Gone Girl is everything a thriller should be. It will keep you right on the edge of the seat, until the shocking, bloody end. A virtuoso performance by Rosamund Pike who should have won the Oscar for her portrayal of Amy Dunne.
9. The Green Mile
Based on The Green Mile by Stephen King, 1996.
One of these heart-moving movies that keep your mouth dry and your eyes wet. It is a simple story retold in a simple way, but its message is so powerful that it will haunt you long after you have watched it. Arguably the most truthful and deepest role by Tom Hanks while Michael Clarke Duncan is a revelation as the humble and tender giant who is sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit.
Set in racist Lousiana in the early 1930-s, the movie takes us on a journey to the darkest corners of the human soul, and surprisingly we find light and hope there more than anything else. Unfortunately the blindness of society may be a crime more horrible than murder. A must-watch.
8. The English Patient
Based on the The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, 1992.
One of the greatest dramas of all time, The English Patient received the monumental 12 Academy Award nominations in 1996 and eventually won no less than nine of them, including Best Picture and Best Director. Much of the magic of the movie though is owed to the 1992 book, which won the Booker prize for literature.
Set in Africa during the World War II, this is the tragic story of passion and loss, of life, fractured by the madness of war, of what violence makes of men and how love can redeem them. How do we preserve our humanity when the world around us falls apart? And what is the thin line between mercy and cruelty?
Ralph Fiennes is clinically excellent, while Juliette Binoche arguably delivers the the best performance of her career. Brilliant supporting roles for William Defoe and Kristin Scott Thomas. Without much of a doubt, this is the most lyrical movie for the Second World War ever made.
7. Doctor Zhivago
Based on Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, 1957.
While some movies based on books have a life of their own, Doctor Zhivago heavily relies on the deep emotional power of Pasternak’s book and the sense of tragedy and hopelessness on the background of the Russian Revolution and the First World War. While too long and slow under the modern standards, the movie remains an absolute classic and was a huge success when it came to the screens in 1965.
Much of this is owed to the incomporable performance by Omar Sharif as Yuri Zhivago. The dramatism and charisma that he brings to the screen remain immortal in the treasury of the cinematic art. And when you add the graceful presence of Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin and the omnipotent sir Alec Guinness under the masterful director of legendary David Lean – you should not wonder why this is considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time!
6. Schindler’s List
Based on Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally, 1982.
Arguably the most tragic of all movies on the list and yet the one filled with most hope for humanity. Based on the true story about Oscar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand Jews from the Nazi concentration camps by employing them in his factories in Poland. Playing cat and mouse with the Gestapo and the authorities embodied by the maniacal Amon Goeth, Schindler balances on a razor blade, on the edge between madness and death.
Director Steven Spielberg created a masterpiece, depicting the inhuman Nazi regime, the outburst of violence in Krakow, the trains leaving for Aushwitz… Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are brilliant acting counterparts, one excelling the other. Fiennes later admitted he would never play a Nazi officer again, not after the traumatic experience of shooting Schindler’s List.
The movie is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, winning seven Oscars out of twelve nominations.
5. Silence of the Lambs
Based on Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, 1988.
Talk about blood chilling – just play the scene of the first conversation between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Sterling. How about some liver and fava beans with a nice chianti for dinner?
Anthony Hopkins redefined the term evil in the character of the genius doctor Lecter. The movie might have been just another criminal thriller if it weren’t for the brilliant acting of Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Silence of the Lambs is only the third movie in history to win the five major categories at the Oscars: best movie, directing, leading male and female roles and adapted screenplay.
4. Goodfellas
Based on Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family by Nicholas Pileggi, 1986.
One of the greatest gangster movies of all time, Goodfellas follows the rise and fall of Henry Hill in the mafia world. Martin Scorsese creates the ultimate eulogy of crime life, of how cool is to be a gangster, with all the inherent side effects of it.
It is hard to determine whether Ray Liotta or Joe Pesci deliver the more impressive performance, with the latter particularly convincing as the ill-tempered, impulsive Tommy DeVito. Add Robert De Niro to the mix and you get a mafia classic.
3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Based on The Lord of the Rings by John Tolkien, 1955.
It took almost half a century for a director to dare approach one of the most beloved and revered books of the 20th century. But once Peter Jackson took on the project the stars aligned in a magical way to ensure we see one of the most epic movies of all time.
Backed up by a hugely talented cast featuring acting legends like Ian Mckellen, Christopher Lee and Ian Holm, Peter Jackson managed to stay true to the spirit of the books and then transcend the magic of Middle Earth on the big screen. The Return of the King, the final instalment of the trilogy, turned into a triumph, cashing in more than a billion dollars and winning a record-equaling 11 Academy Awards.
2. Gone With The Wind
Based on Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 1936.
Often dubbed “the greatest movie of all time”, Gone with the Wind is the most watched movie ever – when the price tickets are injusted for inflation the box office results in the US alone is the mind blowing $ 1.67 billion!
There is some magic about Gone with the Wind – whether it is ethereal beauty of Vivien Leigh, the baroque atmosphere of the post-War South, or just the nostalgia of the 1930s cinema. It is the standard of movie making from almost eighty years ago – and it remains highly watchable and entertaining even today.
1. The Shawshank Redemption
Based on Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, 1982.
Standing tall as number one in the IMDB top 250 list, The Shawshank Redemption is the kind of movie you cannot forget once you have watched it. And the reason is simple – it deals with the most human emotions of all – hope. The will to preserve your inner self no matter the circumstances, the will to go on and fight the world around you if you must.
An acting masterclass by both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. A masterpiece of a screenplay. And a movie you must watch at least once in your life!
