Artistic Vision of Books and Films

FILMS FROM MY BOOKS...SHOULD MIRROR MY BOOKS

When you see films based on my books, you should be dragged directly into the dirt of human experience. 

Films like Civil War and Doctor Zhivago allow us to experience life from a realistic perspective, immersing us in a panoply of human emotions that are spirited along towards an unpredictable conclusion. The ancient movie Doctor Zhivago elicited, in emotion rendering gushes, anguish, pain, hope, love, horror, and total despair, but did it more effectively by incorporating a soundtrack that was passionate and beautiful. The soundtrack was not a canned set of melodies, but a creation of purpose, imbued with humanity—the unfairness of life and the happiness of love. 

For too long, the film industry has produced movies that intentionally shield the audience from tragedy, joy, pain, and love – the depths of what it means to be human on a planet exposed to an unfathomable universe. 

Sheltering audiences from pain when a mother’s child dies in her arms by quickly spiriting the scene away so that we can get on to more frightening gore is dishonest and a disservice to what it means to be human. It is a scene to be embellished with heartbreaking music, with an actor able to convey that pain through tears running down her face in rivers of sorrow. This type of filmmaking delivers audiences to a pure reality, not a superficial experience easily forgotten after tossing away the popcorn bucket. 

If we know anything from the living of life, we know nothing is predictable in a world that lives on the edge. We are not shielded from the demons or angels that roam freely across our blighted planet. Predictable outcomes are not ordained conclusions; good and bad results essentially merge into our kaleidoscope of existence – this is called reality. 

Packaging only certain emotional pieces of this magnificent gift into a cinematic wrapper, like horror for horror’s sake, deprives us all of an experience we can genuinely say was memorable. In my humble opinion, that is what separates a cinematic masterpiece from the run-of-the-mill movie made simply for profit. During the filmmaking process, the producer needs to ask: Is the audience experiencing the entire spectrum of emotions, from pain to supreme joy? 

The film industry's gauge of success should be whether an audience, after viewing a film, is crying, shell-shocked, or in a traumatized daze. All that digs deep gashes into your soul or fills you with utter happiness – the reality of everyday turmoil – an existence of daily struggle and hope that is what a movie should help you remember – what it means to be human.