Zeitgeist '24 for August -- The Movie Mashup: Wild Literary Adaptations on Film

Did the movie "ruin the book" again? Well, maybe. But something fresh and exciting can erupt when a movie goes crazy with its source. We'll look at some of the wildest literary adaptations and how they show us something new. How did The Tempest become Forbidden Planet? How did Jane Eyre turn into I Walked with a Zombie? And how on Earth did the Coen Brothers take Homer's Odyssey and come up with O Brother, Where Art Thou? As we ponder the nature of adaptation itself (including Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation), we'll look at why filmmakers must re-imagine a text in order to make it breathe on screen, and ask what makes us so protective of beloved books.

About Robert Horton

The "Programmer-Historian in Residence" at Scarecrow Video, Robert Horton is a member of the National Society of Film Critics and host of the radio program "The Music and the Movies." His books include a critical study of Frankenstein. He has been a Fulbright Specialist, a Smithsonian Journeys speaker, and he is a member of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau for 2021-2025.