Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
with Daniel Day Lewis as Ahab
I wouldn’t let Harmony Korine direct a elementary school play much less a movie
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow-Martin Scorsese
Was by Geoff Wyman-Gus Van Sant
Hell at the Breach by Tom Franklin-Terrence Malick
Tapping the Source by Kem Nunn-Coen Brothers
and get Quentin Tarantino to direct another Elmore Leonard
Here are my choices, I’ll let you figure out why for yourselves:
THE STORY OF MY LIFE by Giacomo Casanova—Dir. Martin Scorsese or Terry Gilliam, take your pick.
THE GOLDEN ASS by Apuleius—Dir. Martin Scorsese
DANGEROUS LIAISONS by Choderlos de Laclos—Dir. Pedro Almodovar
and, not to leave out animation:
MISS LONELYHEARTS by Nathanael West—Dir. by John Kricfalusi
Nice topic, I’ll think of more.
THE STONE RAFT by José Saramago—dir. Alfonso Cuaron
THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD by Alejo Carpentier—dir. Guillermo del Toro
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO by Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais—dir. Wes Anderson
Who IS directing Blood Meridian? Both Ridley Scott and Todd Field have been mentioned – maybe DBMaynard is onto something by giving it to Lynch!
As of now Todd Field is still listed as director of Blood Meridian. He has done In The Bedroom and Little Children.
This is a wonderous topic to stew over. Here is a few that just came to me, yet I am sure more will come throughout the evening and the cinema that could be will be unfolding in my head.
Jan Svankmajer directing The Story of an Eye by Georges Batille would be cinematic heaven.
Bela Tarr directing The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski.
Harmony Korine directing The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.
Gus Van Sant directing The Stranger by Albert Camus.
Jean-Luc Godard directing Hunger by Knut Hamson.
Agnes Varda directing The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Wener Herzog directing Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
American Tabloid by James Ellroy, dir by Scorsese
Libra by Don DeLillo, dir by David Fincher
The Magus by John Fowles, dir by Darren Aronofsky
Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger, dir by Christopher Nolan
Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer, dir by Coen Bros.
Too many inventive choices here for me to add any (mind is blank), but the posting from Simon above reminded me that a good actor and director is no guarantee of a good film adaptation later. A film everybody forgets, because it was bad, was John Houston’s Moby Dick with Gregory Peck as Ahab, screenplay by Ray Bradbury. All that talent, and it was still bad. Maybe it is just as well we are thinking of dream pairings, because the film in our head might be better than the real thing. We could start a separate thread of real literary adaptations to film and see how many actually lived up to the mark – very few, I’ll venture. Sometimes it is best to just read the book. But do carry on…Oh, and here’s mine:
Finnegans Wake directed (in the style of Prospero’s Books) by Peter Greenaway. But maybe Spielberg could give it an ‘epic’ treatment (no, too silly).
Oh I just thought of a few more I could not resist posting:
Alejandro Jodorowsky directing Don Quixote by Cervantes and also Maldoror by Comte de Lautremont.
Darren Aronofsky directing Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
Odile! Yes on both Jodorowsky/Quixote and Aronofsky/Graviy’s Rainbow! Those are beyond epic.
Hunter S Thompson’s ‘The Rum Diary’ – directed by Wim Wenders, that’d be interesting.
I posted this in another thread, but I’ll post it again!
“After Dark” (Haruki Murakami)
Directed by Sophia Coppola
Starring Rinko Kikuchi
Who is directing ‘The Rum Diary’?
Svankmeyer directing ‘The Story of an Eye’ would be absolute magic.
Hmm, Lasse Hallstrom should direct For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Bruce Robinson is directing the Rum Diary and I believe once again Johnny Depp is playing Hunter, looking forward to it.
I don’t read books, but…
“The Hobbit” – dir: Peter Jackson (I know it’s already being remade, but I don’t want that fat a****** Guillermo Del Toro to ruin it. He swears in Empire Magazine interviews)
“The Worst Witch” – dir: Dario Argento (I’d like him to darken it up a bit and sort make it like “Suspiria 2”)
The Life of Pi – Ang Lee
A Confederacy of Dunces – Mike Nichols
Lush Life – Sidney Lumet
And since you said living or dead, let’s give The Devil in the White City to Hitch.
Oh, how about:
Kiarostami directing Satanic Verses by Rushdie – oops, I think bad idea…
On a somewhat different note, I would like to talk Peter Jackson into taking on that other Ring Cycle – Wagner’s – in the same style as Lord of the Rings with Andy Serkis as Alberich.
That Rushdie pitch is too funny, Bob. (Perhaps more workable than a Farrelly Brothers version of Atlas Shrugged, though.)
Anabasis by Xenophon. In no way deep, but just sword-swining fun.
Michael Mann. Great action director. Would know enough to know generally how to direct a “historical epic” without getting involved in the trappings of most of them.
THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL by Philip Roth—dir. Steven Soderbergh (it would just be fun).
I know that this was made into a movie already, but I would like to see Jim Thompson’s “The Killer Inside Me” directed by the Coen brothers, That would be nice.
Sex, Drugs, & Coco Puffs – dir. Richard Linklater
My Last Sigh (Luis Bunuel autobiography) – dir. Pedro Almodovar
Watchmen – dir. Christopher Nolan
Frankenstein – dir. Rob Zombie (as long as he goes back to what made House Of 1,000 Corpses good, and stays far away from whatever he did that butchered Halloween)
Bullet To The Brain – dir. Terry Gilliam
The TIme Machine Did It – dir. Wes Anderson
HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh—dir. Wes Anderson (test his chops, a little).
ODILE RUHLMANN- good call on Gus Van Sant and The Stranger
Coin Locker Babies – Gasper Noe
A Personal Matter – Paul Schrader
Kristin Lavransdatter – Lynne Ramsay. Give her something to do.
P.T. Anderson directing Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch
Hirokazu Kore’eda directing Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard
Kiyoshi Kurosawa directing Jorge Luis Borges’ “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”
David Cronenberg directing Junichiro Tanizaki’s Naomi
Akira Kurosawa directing Tolstoy’s Resurrection
Alfonso Cuaron doing Nabokov’s Bend Sinister, since no director has really been able to nail down a Nabokov adaption, except maybe Kubrick in a few moments of Lolita.
A Scorsese adaptation of The Alienist could be cool, sort of like Gangs of New York minus the self-conscious myth-making and macho posturing.
Just for the sake of being controversial how about John Landis doing A Confederacy of Dunces?
re: Simon -
I’d give just about anything to see P.T.Anderson’s Moby Dick with Day-lewis as Ahab. Man, can you imagine?
I think these would be interesting:
Salinger’s CATCHER IN THE RYE – dir. Gus Van Sant
Fitzgerald’s THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED – dir. Wes Anderson
Orwell’s 1984 – dir. Ridley Scott
and how’s this for controversy:
Puzo’s THE GODFATHER – dir. Guy Ritche.
dbmaynard
I apologize if this has already been discussed, but I thought it might be fun to explore. Films are based off of books all the time, but what book do you want to see made into a film and what auteur do you want to direct it? Let’s get crazy and say any director living or deceased. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be your favorite book by your favorite director, although it certainly can be. For instance, I’m not a huge Terry Gilliam fan, but “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is one of my favorite films because the pairing of Gilliam’s directing style with Hunter S. Thompson’s literary style is perfect. I’ll start with a few of my own:
“The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” (Tom Wolfe)
Directed by Harmony Korine. Give Korine the resources and see what he can do with this drug-infused epic.
“Three Men in a Boat” (Jerome K. Jerome)
Directed by Wes Anderson. There’s enough kitsch and dry humor in this novella for Anderson to bring back some of that Tenenbaum magic.
“White Noise” (Don Delillo)
Directed by Terrence Malick. No, I’m not asking for a remake of the Michael Keaton thriller, this is totally different. Voiceover, man, voiceover.
“Blood Meridian” (Cormac McCarthy)
Directed by David Lynch. It would be the most screwed up cinematic experience ever. Hands down.