Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy out September 16 – Great Literary Adaptations
This week sees the release of Tomas Alfredson’s espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy featuring an all-star cast including Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
Adapted from the infamous novel of the same name by award-winning author John Le Carre, it got us thinking about some of the most faithful and memorable literary adaptations of cinema history.
Set in the 1970s, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, urbane, successful agents - but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.
Take a look below to see what made our top five...
| Martin Scorsese’s infamous gangster flick Goodfellas is such a celebrated feat of filmmaking that the fact that it’s adapted from a book – ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicholas Pileggi - is often forgotten. Crime reporter Pileggi worked closely with director Martin Scrosese on the screenplay for the film which was taken from his account of the rise and fall of mob kingpin Henry Hill. Since the writer penned so much of the screenplay it’s no real surprise that the film turned out to be a pretty accurate rendition of the book and therefore an obvious competitor as one of the most faithful book-to-film adaptations in cinema. For those who have both seen and enjoyed Goodfellas, reading ‘Wiseguy’ remains a must. The level of detail and the intricacies of Hill’s time in prison, as well as his struggles with money, drugs and women are conveyed to greater depth than the film has time to allow and add a texture and history to the story that is truly compelling. |
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| One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Milos Forman’s adaptation of One Flew the Cuckoo’s Nest won him 5 Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards and shot the film to number 8 on IMDB’s top 250 list. Taken from a novel of the same name by Ken Kesey the film starred Jack Nicholson as a rebel who pretends to be mad in order to get out of work. Soon locked up in a mental asylum, R.P McMurphy brings life and humour to his hospitalised jail mates, until the story follows his ultimate decline as he is ‘treated’ for the illness his doesn’t have. The film reflected the novel’s dark plot and critical take on medical health care in the early 1970’s to great effect and did justice to the book’s rich and complex subject matter. |
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| The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) J.R.R Tolkien’s legendary saga of good vs. evil was one of those literary series that many a filmmaker dreamed about bringing to the big screen but for various reasons remained only a dream. The sheer scale of the project, the special effects, the finances – the story itself – required so much work it seemed an all but impossible task. Then horror-director Peter Jackson came along with his vision of the author’s fantastical world. Determined to see it on the silver screen, he spent 10 years pulling all the components together, including the impressive feat of talking New Line Cinema into funding it. What resulted was one of the most infamous film trilogies of our time that is as faithful to the books as fans could want and screentime would allow. |
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| Sydney Pollack’s beautifully moving film ‘Out of Africa’ was an Oscar-winning success that painted a stunning portrait of the African landscape. More importantly though, the film was an adaptation of Danish author Karen von Blixen-Finecke’s (pen name Isak Dinesen) memoirs of her time in Africa. Although the film focuses mainly on the decline of Blixen’s marriage and her love affair with Englishman Denys Finch Hatton, the film includes much of the poetry she wrote as well as replicating exact episodes from the book. With a strong cast in the form of Helen Mirren and Robert Redford who shared obvious chemistry, the film is one of the most memorable literary adaptations in recent years. |
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| This Pullizter Prize winning novel by Harper Lee was an instant hit on its release in 1960. Tackling racial prejudice, the story was based on real life observations made by the author. It’s a bold, honest and courageous story that was adapted into a successful film of the same name in 1962 starring Gregory Peck, John Megna and Frank Overton. The former won the Best Actor Oscar in 1963 for his portrayal of Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a black man attempted of raping a white woman. Harper Lee was incredibly happy with the 1962 film and became close friends with the leading actor. |
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| Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Film Page Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is released in cinemas this Friday 16th September
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