MovieChat Forums > Funeral in Berlin (1967) Discussion > Deighton - Books vs. Films

Deighton - Books vs. Films

posted 16 years ago by unclecessna
7 replies | jump to latest

Having been a big fan of the Harry Palmer film series since I was a teenager I recently decided to read some of the Deighton novels - Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and An Expensive Place to Die.
I find that the original books from which films are later adapted are usually superior to the films then made but I have to make an ecception in this case - I think the films actually improved on their source material a good deal.
Though I do like the novels I found they were quite meandering and trivial for the most part and almost completely lacking in the tension and structure and pace the films created.
I was very surprised...anyone else have similar or conflicting opinions?

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Byronik 15 years ago

Good point well made. The movie of FIB is an underrated masterpiece whereas Deighton's novel with the same name wanders all over the place and lacks punch. The screenplay delivers a powerful third act from the ashes of the second. And, contrary to the novel, it brings the final denouement at the wall itself: a satisfying unity of space.

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[–] jd-116 15 years ago

I quite agree. I read TIF once because I enjoyed the film so much, and I found it next to unreadable. Whatever Deighton's abilities are by reference to plot and characterisation, a prose stylist he most certainly is not!

[–] gasfarty 14 years ago

They were also written for a different time, when readers might not want the story turned into formulaic story arcs with just barely enough words to convey the action -- not saying that readers today are dumber, but I found "Funeral in Berlin" to be a more traditional literary read than most thrillers are today.

[–] Strausszek 14 years ago

Enjoyed the movie, but (as not unusual wiuth agent books made into films) it pretty much leaves you in the hay about some things. I don't need everything spelled out in biug type, but who is this guy Broum? Also, whether the connection to the "stolen gold" is serious or just an excuse/an erroneous suspicion on Sam's part. The name Broum just jumps up out of nowhere when the forger shows Palmer the documents. I had to check with Amazon (readers' comments on the FiB book) to get a quick idea of who he was: a man with a Nazi criminal past, it could just as well have been nothing but an invented cover identity. I supppose it was less flimsy in the book.

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[–] polsixe 7 years ago

Deighton was pretty good, I enjoyed the Bernard Samson series and his other stuff like SS-GB. The whole Brits vs. Germans thing was a constant plot device in his books.

[–] johcafra-150-658402 7 years ago

Agreed. Viewing FIB and TIF only recently prompted me to find and read the source novels. They're worth the effort, including the one "Secret Files" novel that wasn't adapted for Harry Palmer (so to speak). If you like to compare levels of adaptation from the genre view AND read The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.