Anyone who knows me knows that I have very strong views on
films that change storylines from the book on which they are based. There are
certain films that I will not go and see because I loved the book so much that
I am afraid that the film will spoil it for me. There are people who will not
go to the cinema with me if they know I have read the book! Imagine my surprise
when I watched a DVD the other day of a book I had enjoyed and although the
director changed the film story A LOT, I enjoyed it and it did not take away my
enjoyment of the original book or its two other books in the trilogy. What is
that film?
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is directed by
Tim Burton and rather than sticking to the storyline of the book by Ransom
Riggs which is part of a trilogy, he decided to wrap the story up in one go.
Jacob is a normal boy growing up with his family in America.
When his much loved grandfather dies, he is the only one who can see the
monster that has killed him - a fact resulting in much therapy for Jacob! He
decides to retrace his grandfather’s travels in the hope of understanding him
better and goes to Wales with his Dad. Somehow he stumbles upon Miss Peregrine
and the peculiar children who live in a time warp and discovers that he is
perhaps peculiar (gifted with a supernatural power) as well. They are fighting
the monsters that are trying to kill them and as he is the only one who can see
them, he becomes quite important.
The whole story stretches over three books and involves
kidnapping, world domination, a talking dog and Miss Peregrine’s two brothers.
Tim Burton simplifies it and whilst his way of defeating the
monsters is completely different to the author’s, the characters all act true
to themselves and you felt it could have happened that way.
The moral of this blog is not to judge the film by the book
with the obvious proviso that, of course, you should always read the book
first!
Mrs Godden