Based on...
Books and films are two closely-related forms of art and entertainment. Since the science of film was first established in the late 1800s filmmakers have been using it to tell stories, and they soon began utilising the existing narratives and characters of novels. These films have succeeded (or not) to varying degrees in the transition, some accurately portraying the writer's intention, some building on it and some disappointing the original readers. No matter how well the adaptation is done however, it is still nice to be reminded that yes, happily, there is more to read than Harry Potter.
For screen translations of Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Stephen King and many other notable authors click their links under this category, left. For adaptations of plays and Shakespeare, use the 'Alice's Playhouse' link.
Right: Kubrick's adaptation of Thackeray's novel 'Barry Lyndon'.
Wycliffe: Series 5 (1998)
7.1/10
Starring: Pam Ferris, Helen Masters, Jack Shepherd, Jimmy Yuill
Set against the magnificent and windswept Cornish coast, Detective Superintendant Wycliffe (Jack Shepherd) leads an investigative team charged with so... Read more
Xala (1975)
6.8/10
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Starring: Thiero Leye, Seun Samb
Xala ('Impotence') is a Senegalese social comedy, filmed in the Wolof language. A rich, corrupt business executive marries for the third time for the... Read more
Yellow Sky (1948)
7.5/10
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Anne Baxter, Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Harry Morgan
Gregory Peck leads a group of outlaws in a bank robbery, then after almost dying of thirst in the desert, seeks refuge in a seeming ghost-town known a... Read more
Yes Man (2008)
6.8/10
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins, Rhys Darby, D...
Carl (Jim Carrey) has all but shut down his life in the wake of his divorce. He avoids his friends, he doesn't answer his phone, he doesn't do anythi... Read more
Young Billy Young (1969)
5.7/10
Director: Burt Kennedy
Starring: Angie Dickinson, David Carradine, Robert Mitchum, Robert Walker, John Anderson,...
Ageing deputy Robert Mitchum puts on his six-guns one more time after his son is murdered. He teams up with young ex-gunfighter Robert Walker Jr for a... Read more
Young Man With A Horn (1950)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, Juano Hernandez
Based on the life of jazz trumpeter Bix Biederbecke and adapted from the novel by Dorothy Baker, Kirk Douglas is the Bix character, Rick Martin, one o... Read more
Youth Without Youth (2007)
6.3/10
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, Andre Hennicke, Marcel Iures
At 70, Professor Dominic (Tim Roth) is contemplating suicide; his wife is dead, and he can't seem to complete his life's work on the origin of languag... Read more
Zathura (2001)
6.2/10
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Tim Robbins, Kristen Stewart, Dax Shepard, Voice Of...
When two brothers start playing an old board game they found in the basement, a roll of the dice catapults them - and their house - into outer space,... Read more
Zelary (2003)
7.7/10
Director: Ondrej Trojan
Starring: Ana Geislerova, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Ivan Trojan, Miroslav Donutil
Based on Kveta Legatova's novella about Eliska (Ana Geislerova) a nurse involved in the Czech resistance movement in Prague. When forced to flee into... Read more
Zodiac (2007)
7.7/10
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr, Brian Cox, Joh...
In the late 1960s, Northern California was gripped by fear as a serial killer haunted the nighttime streets of San Francisco. To this day, the identi... Read more