Film Vs. Book I: The Princess Bride

As you've probably guessed by the title I'm starting a series of posts. These will be a comparison between books and their movie adaptations. These comparisons won't be a line by line dissection of differences between script and book, but a broader approach.

Major events and major dfferences in characterization are what I'm looking at. I probably won't be doing a thourough read through of each book before I start to try and maintain a big picture focus. At the end of the comparison I will say which works better over all and I'm not always going to side with the book or always with the movie. I plan on keeping things even. I'm not going to be overtly negative when I do these reviews, just an analysis (unless something doesn't work at all), after all I'm doing these for fun, not to be an angry little whiner. I'll also gladly admit bias when I write these reviews.

That being said, lets begin.

Many people are familiar with the classic film The Princess Bride. A movie released in 1987 directed by Rob Reiner it's witty comedy and memorable characters propelled this film deeply into the minds of the people who have seen it. It's not the most popular film ever, but those who have seen it are generally huge fans of it.

What many people don't realize is that is based off a novel of the same name. Released in 1973 this book offers a different look on the characters we've all grown up knowing.

I'll admit I've been watching the film since I can remember, but I only discovered the book a few years ago so I'll be biased toward the movie.

Without further ado here are some of the major differences:

Backstories: Everyone knows Inigo Montoya's back story. Hell, his most memorable line is, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." I'm not going to say this isn't in the book. That would be a lie, however after Inigo's story about his father's death the book goes into detail about all the fencing masters he studied under and why he was driven to drink and why he joined Vizzini. Similarly, Fezzick is given more of a backstory as  well. His story tells us about his wrestling career and how everyone hated him because he was too strong. He turned to taking on large groups of ruffians and people warmed up slightly. He eventually joins Vizzini as well. This was not in the film, only hinted at with the line, "It's been a long time since I've had to fight just one person." While having these additional scenes is interesting, like learning something about a old friend, they would have bogged the film down considerably, and they bog the book down slightly as well. Here I prefer the movie. However one added piece of backstory certainly adds to the experience. I always wondered why Prince Humperdink wanted to attack Guilder so bad other than it being "Florin's sworn enemy." Well, in the book, Prince Humperdink was supposed to marry Guilder's Princess, however calls it off when he finds out she's completely bald. Feeling tricked, and now not getting his giant kingdom, he deciedes to attack them at his earliest convienence. That scene clears this subplot up immensely. It might not have worked in the film, but I fully enjoy it. It is one of the funnier parts of the book, so I'm going to go with the book on that.  You get a little more info on Buttercup and Wesley too, but it doesn't really add that much for me, it mostly just shows Buttercup realizing she loves Wesley when Count Rugen's wife starts eyeing Wesley up and down when she and the Count happen to be riding by and pop in to see the pretty boy and girl working on a farm. Buttercup confesses this to Wesley and then he decides to go to America to seek his fortune to provide for her. This scene makes the romance make more sense and the scenes actually give Buttercup and Wesley slightly more depth than their film counter parts, while I acknowledge this scene may not have worked in the film I enjoy it too much so my first point goes to the book.

The Zoo of Death: If you haven't read the book, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. I'm talking about where Wesley was kept when Count Rugen and Humperdink were torturing him. In the book Wesley is in the bottom floor of a secret underground facility (because what other kinds are there?) where ferocious beasts are kept. One level has a snake, one has bats, one is completely empty except for the venomous spider hidden on the door on the other side and the final floor was empty until Humperdink met his greatest adversary, Wesley. There are other floors, but I've forgotten them. Inigo and Fezzick fight there way through all the levels. It's really awesome set of scenes that let you see fan favorites kick ass and take names. While it may have bogged down the film it is an awesome addition to the book, so book gets the point.

Framing device: Obviously in a  book one cannot have a grandfather reading the story to his grandson in quite the same way. And in fact the book has a COMPLETELY different framing device all together. The book tells the (also fictional) tale of William Goldman (author of both book and screenplay) having this book read to him by his father, then sending a copy to his son, only to find out that his father edited the story as he read it, the actual book being weighed down by social commentary on the ruling class of Florin and essays on trees. William takes it upon himself to edit the book down to the 'good parts.' I have to side with the movie on this one. No one really reads the Princess Bride for the framing story, but the one in the film is just so much more touching though we see less of it. The Grandfather truly cares about his grandson and takes his feelings into account. Meanwhile Goldman just sort of "takes a book" and picks out what he remembers.

Ending: When I say ending I mean from the wedding on. As I mentioned before William Goldman wrote both the book and movie and as such there is still a surprising amount of changes, even in the ending. When Goldman wrote the screenplay he patched up one major plot hole the book had. In the book when Humperdink marries Buttercup the characters just sort of hope he dies and run away. By the time William Goldman got around to the screenplay he figured out a better way of ending it and so just changed it. The film works a hell of a lot better. Similarly, the book ends on a cliff-hanger with everyone suddenly getting screwed at the last minute. There has been a sequel has been in the works for years and doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The film has resolution (mostly) and feels like a good ending for all the characters. So the film wins this as well.

Minor things: Here and there, as necessary with every adaptation little things get lost or added in the process. Some I can remember are: The book provided a helpful map. Shrieking eels are creepier than sharks. The first chapter to the sequel (dedicated to Andre the Giant) is nice and poignant. No matter how character decriptions varied from their movie appearances I still pictured them. Little things are a draw.

So my final verdict is: A Tie. While the film is a classic and no one is disputing that, the book is a nice addition to any collection, especially if you are a fan of the movie. The novel works as a novel and the film works as a film, what more can I say?