Jane Eyre
Every year a whole host of novels get adapted for the big screen - another, in the form of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is released this week.
2011 has been a stellar year for turning books into very faithful adaptations, and many of them have enjoyed major critical and commercial success.
- Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go has been one of my favourite movies all year as director Mark Romanek brought Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel to the big screen.
The movie brought together a great British cast that included Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield.
This movie is a very thought provoking picture that leaves you with a few questions of your own - Never Let Me Go is a morality tale that is filled with questions of what is right and wrong.
This is a very faithful adaptation of the novel it’s a powerful and incredibly moving script - only someone with a heart of stone will be failed to be moved by this story.
-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy boasted one the most impressive ensemble casts of the year as Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, tom hardy, Toby Jones, Mark String, John Hut and Benedict Cumberbatch came together to bring the John le Carre novel to the big screen.
Directed by Tomas Alfredson this book adaptation was one of the best political thrillers of 2011 - and Oldman delivered a stunning performance in the role as George Smiley.
The movie hooks you from the word go and it’s an incredibly absorbing watch - Alfredson creates uncertainty and paranoia at every turn.
This movie has been called of the best British movies in many a year and it deserves all of the praise that has been coming its way in recent weeks.
- The Help
The Kathryn Stockett has been immensely popular since it was released back in 2009 and the movie has proved to be just as successful since it was released in the autumn.
The movie broke $100 million at the U.S. box office and it picked up five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture.
Directed by Tate Taylor the movie follows an aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the sixties as she starts to write a novel from the point of view of the African-American maids.
This is a faithful adaptation of the popular novel that blends humour with emotion and heartbreak so effortlessly that you cannot help but get swept away in the story and the struggle.
It’s not often that an all female ensemble movie is put together but Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Bryce Dallas Howard and Octavia L.Spencer all turn in first rate performances.
- Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre has been adapted for the big and small screen dozens of time over the years but 2011 saw one of literature’s most famous heroine’s back on cinema screens.
Mia Wasikowska took on the title character while Michael Fassbender took on the role of Mr Rochester.
This movie is just stunning and it’s the terrific performances from the two central characters that is just so compelling.
It’s a very measured and controlled performance from Wasikowska, once again showed that she is a real talent, while there is just something incredibly alluring about Fassbender’s Rochester.
The sweeping cinematography and speedy pacing give this movie a very modern feel - bringing this classic to a whole new generation.
- We Need To Talk About Kevin
Tilda Swinton’s performance in We Need to Talk about Kevin is one of the most talked about of the year - and she looks set to pick up nominations left, right and centre during the awards season.
It is a tour de force performance from Swinton and you really can't see anyone other than her playing this role it really is a perfect piece of casting - she plays this role with such poise and dignity never letting it slip into melodrama.
Lynne Ramsey is in the director’s novel as she brings the troubling and emotional novel by Lionel Shriver.
- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
This week the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is adapted once again for the big screen - this time around seeing David Fincher in the director’s chair.
Harriet Vanger disappeared off the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family. There was no corpse, no witnesses, no evidence.
Nearly forty years later a journalist by the name of Mikael Blomqvist gets an unusual assignment. He’s contacted by Harriet’s uncle, Henrik Vanger, who wants him to find out what really happened to Harriet.
Mikael takes on the job, with help from mysterious biker girl and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
This unlikely pair form a fragile bond as they dig into the sinister past of this family and find out just how far they're prepared to go to protect themselves - and each other.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is released 26th December
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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