Book to Film
To
Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee is one of the most renowned and critically acclaimed American books
ever written. Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird is another critically
acclaimed, Academy Award winning film. They are both great examples of American-made
art and deserving of these high honors. They are about innocence, childhood,
bias, and what is right and what is wrong. In this essay, as always, I will be
analyzing the book and film, finding comparisons and contrasts between the two,
and giving my opinion on both the literary and cinematic versions of the story.
THE
BOOK
To Kill a Mockingbird is
without a doubt one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is one of those that
is hard to put down when you’ve started and you almost miss once you’ve
finished. The story is about a young girl named Scout growing up in a small
southern town and the challenges she faces in her world. It is also about her father’s
own struggles with his adult world. The story is from Scouts perspective, but
is able to give multiple points of view on topics, and we the readers learn
about southern life in the 30s just as she learns. Over a few years we see
Scout grow and learn more about the real world as opposed to her childhood one
of innocence. As she begins to gain a conscience and understanding of things we
begin to learn the same things from her. It’s a book with a lot to say and many
messages to share.
Like I said, while it does
take Scouts perspective throughout the book it is also just as much about her father
Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer defending a black man called Tom Robinson against
charges of raping a white woman. This is the south in the 1930s. It is a case
he knows he cannot win, but he still tries. Atticus has a lot of pressure put
on him because of the severity of the case, and is threatened, spit on, and
called fowl names. It becomes clear that Tom did not rape the woman, but he is
still convicted because of the town’s racial bias against black people. Despite
what the norm is at the time, Atticus stands up for his personal views of right
and wrong. This rubs off on Scout and helps influence her own sense of
morality.
THE
MOVIE
The film adaptation is also
incredibly strong and powerful. One thing it faults itself on is literal
adaptation. The book covers so much and takes so much time that it is
impossible to show all of it on screen. It is able to hit on everything that is
necessary for the story to make sense, but leaves out a lot of important moments,
so many in fact that it was a little shocking. Even entire characters like Aunt
Alexandra are completely done away with. It is an extremely abridged version of
Harper Lees original novel. One thing it does manage to do is capture the feel
of the book. The scenes that aren’t excluded look and feel almost exactly how I
imagined them in the book. It has the spirit and nostalgia of childhood. In
soul it is probably the best adaptation so far. In a literal sense it is
probably the worst.
The thing that makes this a
great film, direction, score, and cinematography aside, is easily the
performances. Every single performance is believable, and some of them are
actually astounding. I don’t think I’ve seen a group of more believable child
actors in my life. They all play their parts perfectly and are identical to the
characters in the book. That being said, Gregory Peck is easily the best thing
about the movie. His performance as Atticus Finch won him best actor at the
Oscars, beating out the likes of Peter O’Toole in the equally amazing Lawrence
of Arabia (best picture winner that year). He plays Atticus exactly how he is
in the novel, a man trying to do the right thing against all odds. What makes
the book so great is also found in the film, even if it is missing a lot of
plot.
THE
VERDICT
These are both great forms
of a great story, but it is still easy to decide which is better overall. The
film is great but the book is simply a masterpiece. It is perfect in almost
every way. From character to story to setting to style it is an unparalleled
work of fiction that is at the very least matched to the best books I’ve read,
possibly even claiming the top spot. The film is just ever so slightly flawed,
but it is still a worthy adaptation of the novel. It is just incapable of
reaching the novels heights. It comes as close as it can though.
CONCLUSION
Both
are fantastic works of art. The book is still slightly better than the film,
just because the book is a more in depth and frankly perfect version of a great
tale.
-
The Book: 10/10
-
The Movie: 9.75/10
