http://crotchetyoldfan.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/re-do-re-make-re-boot-re-imagine/

The Shawshank Redemption is an interesting example, since I think short stories (and novellas) are one of the few mediums that are quite compatible with film; much more so than novels, anyway. They’re short, generally have a more straightforward structure, and less events within the story, all of which makes them easy translatable to film - that overcomes the second of the two key problems I outlined in the last post, so I suppose adaptations from short stories have got more chance of success.

10 Things I Hate About You is a good example of my other point, actually, because Shakespeare in turn took almost everything he wrote from other stories. I do see that as a case of such stories being used as inspiration rather than being adapted directly, though, yes, and in some cases, if your aim is to bring the same story to a new audience, I think this remains the better bet.

I agree about adaptations that are very different to the original often being good - I think what happens in these cases is that the emphasis is moved from the story to the performance, so the points I’ve raised don’t really apply in the same way. The performance, not the storytelling, becomes the thing on which those adaptations are judged.

I think I’ll write another post on this shortly!

So, what about stories that are repackaged for an audience that might not otherwise have seen/read the original? Would you not think there is any merit in that?

e.g. 10 Things I Hate About You was a fairly decent, unpretentious take on the Taming of the Shrew, I thought, even though it was a poppy teen chick-flick.

I would say it was better off for not being called ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, and I’m positive that a good percentage of the audience never realised it was based on Shakespeare at all, so I guess it falls more into your definition of inspiration rather than straight adaptation.

I do, however, think that adaptations that are done in a very different way to the original - and which are not trying to compete with the original - can be great. I’ve seen a stage adaptation of The Hobbit a few times, done with puppets, and it was fantastic.

Ant