MovieChat Forums > The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) Discussion > This isn´t really an adaptation

This isn´t really an adaptation

posted 18 years ago by ucalderonagosto
2 replies | jump to latest

I mean it follows more or less the plot, and takes the characters from the book but changes something more important: its tone and purpose. The book is serious (though satiric) and this movie is not. I could understand it if it was an outright parody but it isn´t that either. To me, the effect was a little irritating, and I think the low rating reflects that it happened the same to a lot of people. If you haven´t read the book I guess it is not so bad.

By the way, I can recognize "Heart of Darkness" in "Apocalypse Now" or "Macbeth" in "Throne of Blood", I give a lot of room to directors to change things but I think there is a limit (at least for the movie to be considered an adaptation).

[–] scarpati 18 years ago

I have read the book at least six times and have seen the movie more times than I can remember. Having said that, I've always thoght the only thing that really lessens the book's impact on screen is the ommision of the book's last few pages. IMO it was what happened to McCoy after the trial that put things in perspective.
The movie is never as good as the book, but this one is pretty close.

[–] dgz78 8 years ago

It's more than the ending though. It's not a short book like Of Mice and Men so there was going to be a lot things left out that make the book such a good read. It's why no one wanted to direct it because everyone knew how hard it would be to convey McCoy's fall from Master of the Universe to worthless bum. Not to mention skewering everyone else in New York by sticking a shiv in the back of the characters from Park Avenue to the Bronx.

In the movie Hanks come home to the party after he gets out on bail and pulls out his shotgun to get everyone to leave. The next time we see him at home he's calm even though he's lost his family and job. One day he has it all and a few weeks later it's over for him. In the book it's a long trip down and we see McCoy hit his head on every step of his circular stairway of his Park Avenue co-op. Getting off on the manslaughter rap doesn't really do him much good.

I'll give DePalma credit for tackling the project when no one else would knowing how difficult it was going to be. But because it was a prestige picture for the studio he had to use big names for the three lead characters. In the logic of Hollywood, a prestige picture requires spending millions on stars even though artistically, much cheaper actors would result in a better product.