I just finished reading the book. While reading it I was surprised to hear there was an actual film adaptation, considering the writing style. Still haven't seen the movie but... According to answers.com:
Catch-22 was adapted into a motion picture in 1970. Mike Nichols was the director; the screenplay was written by Buck Henry, who also acted in the film.
Along with Henry, the cast included Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, Norman Fell, and Orson Welles. It was not regarded as a great success, earning less money and acclaim than M*A*S*H, another war-themed black comedy from the same year.
The adaptation to film changed the book's plot substantially. Several story arcs are left out, and many characters in the movie speak the dialogue and experience the events of other characters in the book. This significantly alters the implications of some events.
However, the film's editing does preserve the book's fragmented structure, making associative leaps rather than conventional transitions from episode to episode.
Despite these changes, Heller approved of the film, according to a commentary by Nichols and Steven Soderbergh included on a DVD release. According to Nichols, Heller was particularly impressed with a few scenes and bits of dialogue Henry created for the film, and said he wished he could have included them in the novel.
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Black_Knight-1712
19 years ago
Interesting, though not surprising. The book is brilliant though. Every time I see Klinger in M*A*S*H I think of Catch-22.
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