The 2005 Booker Longlist was announced this week, and that prompts this question.
1982's winner of the prize was later adapted into a film. Other Booker winners which have been made into movies include Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda, and Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. However, this film was the most popular adaptation of a Booker winner ever made.
What was the film? For bonus points, what was the original title of the novel? (In the U.S., the novel was retitled to match the film's title.)
First correct answer posted to comments wins a bowl of spaghetti which miraculously looks like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. No Googling or phoning up John Sutherland. One guess per comment, please, but comment as often as you like.
Posted by BT at August 12, 2005 10:03 AMum, whatever the original title of "Chariots of Fire" was.
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:24 AMoh wait, I can just name the film: Chariots of Fire.
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:28 AMNope. That was not, to the based of my knowledge, based on a novel.
Posted by: BT on August 12, 2005 10:32 AMA Room with a View?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:39 AMBreakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo?
Posted by: Gavin on August 12, 2005 10:43 AMWeekend at Bernie's
Posted by: Scott on August 12, 2005 10:46 AMHoward's End?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:55 AMMona Lisa?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:57 AMMy Left Foot?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 10:58 AMThe Spy Who Shagged Me?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 11:08 AMThe Crying Game?
Posted by: Gavin on August 12, 2005 11:18 AMHigh Fidelity?
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 11:24 AMI Dare Say, Mrs. Plumsby
Posted by: James on August 12, 2005 11:36 AMDudes, I think I've raised the bar a little, and if you want to suggest silly movie titles, you need to tag on a British original.
eg: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Bonus: William and Teddy's Brilliant Adventure
>> I Dare Say, Mrs. Plumsby
Mine was meant to be read with a British accent.
Posted by: James on August 12, 2005 11:44 AMAccents notwithstanding, nobody's come even close.
Posted by: BT on August 12, 2005 11:47 AMColours
Posted by: James on August 12, 2005 11:47 AMMillion Dollar Baby
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 11:59 AMWhat's the name of that movie with the old woman and the young boy and they talk about suicide. I think the title is their names with an "and" in between.
Anyway, that's my guess.
Posted by: James on August 12, 2005 12:26 PMMy other guess is Ferris Bueller's Day Off, AKA: Ferris Bueller's Holiday.
Posted by: James on August 12, 2005 12:29 PMJames you might be thinking of Harold and Maude--but the movie came out before 1982.
Posted by: art on August 12, 2005 12:32 PMSophie's Choice
I'm pretty sure the Booker Prize goes back at least through the 70s.
Posted by: Gavin on August 12, 2005 01:07 PMSophie's Choice is a good guess -- but Styron is an American, and his book was published in 1979.
More recently, the author published a novel about a Saddam-Hussein-like dictator who demands that a novelist write a book to be published under the dictator's name, ensuring his literary fame. It was well-reviewed but did not become a bestseller.
Another clue: although the book in question was a work of fiction, it was based heavily on real events, and this was critical to its adaptation as a film.
Posted by: BT on August 12, 2005 01:14 PMSchindler's List
Posted by: Scott on August 12, 2005 01:19 PMTo clarify re Gavin's remark -- the prize goes back to the late 60's, but the book in question won the prize in '82, and the film came out considerably later.
Posted by: BT on August 12, 2005 01:20 PMThe Last Temptatioun of Christ
Posted by: boxjam on August 12, 2005 01:52 PMThe English Patient
Posted by: boxjam on August 12, 2005 01:53 PMCaligula
Posted by: boxjam on August 12, 2005 01:56 PMTo be specific, "Schindler's Ark," yes?
Posted by: ed on August 12, 2005 02:15 PMOh, I parsed the clue wrong. Okay, got it now.
Trainspotting?
Posted by: Gavin on August 12, 2005 02:44 PMNice to see you, Ed. Yes, Scott got the movie title (I think you posted while I was typing my last, Scott, and I didn't catch you in preview), and Ed nails the bonus. Thomas Keneally beat out Ann Thomas Ellis, Timothy Mo, Lawrence Durrell, and William Boyd with Schindler's Ark. Which, to be honest, I'd never known was a novel (as opposed to nonfiction) before today.
A good reminder to read Boyd's runner-up, The Ice-Cream War.
Next week, I'll be off celebrating the Sister of the Wombat's wedding in the rain-soaked northwest. Scott, flushed with victory, has agreed to perch on the Quizmaster's stool again, so there'll be no interruption in your trivial pleasures.
Now that we're all finished here, you can go read Ed's impassioned denunciation of the pernicious crouton, defiler of salads:
http://www.edrants.com/?p=1913
Damn, and I knew the answer, too. Here's my Scott-inspired non-answer:
Fanny and Alexander.
Bonus: Arse and Alexander.
Posted by: Rory on August 13, 2005 07:19 PMDamn, shouldn't have posted when I was half-asleep. A much better British title would have been "Alexander's Amazing Arse".
Posted by: Rory on August 14, 2005 08:32 AMAnd much much later I realized that the Brit title for Million Dollar Baby would be, uh, 450 Pound Baby?
Posted by: art on August 14, 2005 08:06 PMmake that 450,000 Pound Baby!
Posted by: art on August 14, 2005 08:08 PM