The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising - In Theatres October 5, 2007
It’s a dicey proposition to see one of your favorite books translated into film. Many of Tolkien’s fans were wary before Peter Jackson foisted his Lord of the Rings masterpieces upon us. I loved the Lord of the Rings books, but I was never that nervous about the film adaptation once Jackson started sharing his plans and attitude toward the films. To say that turned out pretty well would be a gross understatement. With this one…. so far I’m on the fence.
The trailer on the website linked above is (aside from being pathetically small) not making me giddy. Not that it’s bad, but it doesn’t ring true with the memory I have of the books I treasured 20+ years ago. That’s where the real hurdle is - living up to fan expectations. And that’s not really a fair bar to set for a film. No director is going to be able to completely recreate the look and feel of the worlds and people I saw in my head reading through those multi-award winning books as a young teenager. Plus, judging from the lack of marketing I’ve seen about the film, I’m thinking they had a modest budget, which doesn’t help my perception.
On the other hand, the rest of the website does do a fairly good job of creating the atmosphere I was expecting. When I was reading the character synopses, I suddenly started to feel the excitement I had been longing for. It does help, as well, to know that the book’s author, Susan Cooper, wrote the film adaptation.
I whole-heartedly want this movie to succeed. I desperately want it to be good. There were very few books that I got this invested in as a child, and I was an avid reader. In fact, the only other series that comes to mind when I think about quality of this level are Lord of the Rings, The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead, and possibly the Chronicles of Prydain stories by Lloyd Alexander (though those are for a younger audience).
(By the way, since I mentioned the Pendragon Cycle, let me also say that I would love to see Lawhead’s Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur books turned into movies. Holy cow, that could be awesome, and I really think it would have a mass appeal, given its Arthurian topic. I’d skip the 4th book, Pendragon, as I really think Arthur wraps up the series nicely. Those books were so good that I momentarily considered naming my first daughter after one of their main characters, Charis.)
Anyway… the fact that they added “The Seeker” to the front of the title bothers me a little, too. Here’s hoping the movie surpasses its trailer, and that I can let go of the picky stuff. Either way, I’m going to try as hard as I can to see this movie in the theater (which is no small feat with two kids under 3 years old in the house).
Technorati Tags: Susan Cooper, Fantasy movies, fantasy books, legends, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, The Dark Is Rising
Tags: book adaptation, film, susan cooperRelated posts
Tags: book adaptation, film, susan cooper
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August 25th, 2007 at 11:03 am
I am curious, where did you hear that Cooper had any input into this adaptation? I think the screen writer said he “felt” as if he had Cooper’s blessing to make changes to the story (so he made up a whole new one) but I had not seen that she contributed directly, mores the pity.
The comparison to LOtR is a good one. The one thing the fans knew about Peter Jackson was that he LOVED the books. This team seems to LOVE the whole new story and spin they have created. Apparently the whole Arthurian legend did not work for them. The screen writer admitted he had not read the other books in the series. Sort of like LOtR with out that whole ring issue.
I think you are correct about the budget. Maybe this is the result of small thinking for a series they did not understand had a grand following.
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August 26th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Hi Camille,
I got that particular tidbit from Slice of Sci Fi.
I read it in my RSS Feeds and didn’t see the comments that echo your sentiments. It appears that Cooper’s involvement may have been overstated in that post (and subsequently, mine). That’s extremely disappointing, as are notes I’ve since seen about the changes made to the story.
Why do people do such stupid things to quality stories?!
I’m still avoiding spoilers, so I haven’t read anything about what is in the movie, concentrating only on what is missing, so I’m still giving the film the benefit of the doubt that it could be good. However, I’ve almost all but lost hope that it will be “The Dark is Rising”. I’m going to have to watch it pretending that it is something totally different… if I can.
Nuts… I was so hoping this would turn out to be a quality film of the level of the recent Narnia movie, at least.
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September 21st, 2007 at 9:45 am
Jeff, I think the reason this movie will not be a good adaptation is embodied in this direct quote from the screenwriter, “perhaps its different with something like Harry Potter where every child has read it, but looking at a book from quite a long time a go that not a lot of people have read…Your duty is to the film, and not the author.” And even less to the author’s book. http://www.movieweb.com/news/86/19886.php
He’s saying, in effect, “no one is reading these books, and they were written a long time ago, so I can do whatever I want.” And what he wanted was to make extensive changes to the story and the characters. I see you don’t want to be spoiled, so I won’t “g”, but I will warn you that book fans are probably more upset with the things he’s added and the characters he’s warped than they are with anything he’s left out. Actually, how can you identify anything left out when you can’t recognize the story to start with?
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September 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 am
See that quote alone makes me hate this movie. It shows that the attitude is not one of respect for the material, but one of money-grubbing and/or ego.
Fine, I understand that your duty is to the film. There should not necessarily be any duty to the author either. But the STORY should be the primary reason to do any adaptation. If you’re going to wipe the heart and soul out of the story, why the heck would you do it to begin with?! Why not just write something similar in theme, but original? I’m very close to loathing this writer, now, and I’ve never met him. That doesn’t happen to me often.
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October 6th, 2007 at 1:40 am
I saw this movie tonight and I am a huge fan of the series. I think it would be easier for everyone to list the things that were the same as the book than trying to list all the things that are different. I knew that this movie would in no way resemble the books but I went with a healthy dose of optimism.
I left baffled. They took a truly unique story from a great series (which in all could have made the studios quite a bit more than just one movie) and they tried to introduce elements of the matrix, LOTR and god knows what else. I will not give any spoilers but I will say that if you had any affinity to the book, please save your money, your time and your disappointment
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October 6th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Thanks for the review - and warning - Ron. I was planning on seeing it as you said, with a healthy dose of optimism, knowing it isn’t the books, but the more I hear, the less I think I could watch it optimistically.
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February 6th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Wooow… what can i say!… bad bad bad bad people!
The books we all knew and loved are somehow twisted into a snowy sort of orgy in America!
Eccelson is good, but most of the others can’t act.
Merriman isn’t tall, or dark and mysterious!
And the brother??? Going with him???? What????
*sigh*
The cynicism in me made me laugh the whole way through the film, in a chocked half cry.
I think i’ll read the books again for a good solid few days, and be glad that i can openly mock the film!
-.-
tut tut tut.
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