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September 2009
Reflections on The Best Movie Yet to be Made
by Mark Carroll
“I always did like you, Thomas,” a voice whispered. …“You make my head spin.”
GREEN, Pg. 119
In honor of New York Times best-selling author Ted Dekker’s new release, Green, I wonder if his Circle Series (Green/Black/Red/White) will be the best movie (or movie series) yet to be made.
Having been a sci-fi/fantasy fan since my middle-school years, most of the novels I’ve encountered – at their best – can only offer a “two dimensional” world. What’s the missing third dimension (or fourth and fifth)? The God-factor. Even though Tolkien’s Middle Earth masterpieces – and Lewis’ Chronicles – had types and shadows, nothing has impacted my spiritual journey more in a fictional storyline than Dekker’s “Elyon” appearances in the Circle Series. (Elyon is Hebrew for God Most High; 'elyown Strong’s #H5945; see Psalm 57:2 – I cry out to God (Elohim), the Most High God (El Elyon) who does everything for me; Psalm 78:35 – Then they remembered that God (Elohim) was their rock, and God Most High (El Elyon) their Redeemer; Psalm 91:1 – He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High (Elyon), shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (El Shaddai)…). With the risk of sounding too over-dramatic…these Elyon appearances were life-changing for me. Really. Read them for yourself, if a true-believer, and experience the effect on your view and walk with God. There are certain sections from the series I reflect on daily.
In an audacious move, Dekker has brought his newest Circle novel to the front as “Book Zero.” Baffling, bodacious, bold and brilliant. Being an avid Dekker fan (thanks to Paul Herman my supervisor) and now with over 17 Dekker books under my belt, reading this most recent tome from the author’s twisted yet adroit mind, this movie HAS to be made.
But only if it’s done right.
I shudder to think what a weak or even mediocre theatrical rendition would do to this spiritually epic story. It would truly be the worst of all tragedies.
Here are just a few examples of bad book-to-movie adaptations (in my limited cinematic scope):
The Lord of the Rings (1978 – Ralph Bakshi). After waiting in line for hours with my best friend from high school, in the rain, when the credits rolled, we wanted our money back. What a mess.
Bicentennial Man (1999 – budget $100 million, domestic gross $58 million). Isaac Asimov's original novel was turned into a schmaltzy, watered down, muddied up and unintended comedy thanks to suspect direction and the zany Robin Williams. Oy.
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 – budget $123 million, domestic gross $260 million… okay, so nothing else was playing for the kids). This movie gives credence to Dr. Seuss’ reluctance to license his books for celluloid. The few he did hand over for animated TV cartoons were well done, the best being the insightful TV special How The Grinch Stole Christmas! by friend and co-collaborator, Chuck Jones.
The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003 – budget $78 million, domestic gross $66 million). Even though a comic book series and graphic novel, this creative work written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill deserved better – a whole lot better. When you’re out to save the British empire with the help of Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, The Invisible Man, Mina Murray and Dr. Jekyll (and Mr. Hyde, respectfully), it should have knocked our socks off. Instead, we just ended up with soggy socks. Ugh!
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (2005). This now classic and beloved sci-fi novel by Douglas Adams might just be un-filmable. The story’s silly narrative rabbit trails – which flip throughout time and space – don’t play well on film. Though the movie had its moments, compared to the source material, it was a letdown.
Some of the best book-to-movie adaptations (in my humble opinion):
Ben-Hur (1959). William Wyler’s robust epic staring Charlton Heston wins the chariot race against General Lew Wallace’s original book (though the novel had more welcomed spiritual references).
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Though I didn’t like the idea of having to read Harper Lee’s book in the 8th grade, it stuck with me years later. When finally getting around to watching the movie with Gregory Peck (which earned him an Oscar), it was riveting.
The Godfather (1972). Yes, Mario Puzo’s novel was grittier and more complex, but director Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, and Oscar winning cast, made cinematic history.
Jaws (1975). Considered the first cinema block-buster, Steven Spielberg actually out-swam the book by Peter Benchley. His screenplay thankfully exorcised such needless plot lines as the amour between Hooper and Brody’s wife. John William’s haunting score continues to pound somewhere in the back of my cranium.
The Princess Bride (1987). William Goldman’s fractured fairytale is a thoroughly entertaining book with a boat load of added goodies. However, this is one of those rare instances where the movie was better. That Goldman also wrote the screenplay may have something to do with it.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). My daughter Allie loved this movie so much that she decided to read the novel by Alexandre Dumas père. Page after page she kept waiting for the action, romance and thrill ride to kick in. But I suppose the plethora of details of this brilliant story were better enjoyed by a distant generation.
The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003). Yes, they were great, but the books were still better. If you don’t agree, it’s because you haven’t read the books. To those who have, you know there are differences – some subtle and some not so subtle. The Peter Jackson films were exceptional, capturing the stories’ epic nature, landing securely on my top-10 list. But the greatest peccadillo I see with the films was the omission of one Tom Bombadil. If I could magically wave my “fix-any-movie-and-make-it-better wand,” I would shorten a few Orc and other evil scenes and add a few of Mr. Bombadil. His positive, merry and care-free approach to life, mysterious beginnings, intense relationship with Goldberry, and the fact that the One Ring had no affect on him – made him very cool. He appears in three chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring and mentioned in another three. At the end of The Return of the King, Gandalf states that he wants to have a long talk with the “moss-gatherer.” Tolkien liked the character so much that he wrote another book entitled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
And someday…
BLACK/RED/WHITE/GREEN (20??). By Ted Dekker. I’m sure he’s haunted from past experience when turning over two of his best-selling books to low-budget productions and unseasoned directors and actors (2008’s House grossed $575,000 in 363 theaters; 2006’s Thr3e, with a $2.4 million budget, made $1 million domestically in 458 theaters). Lessons learned, I hope he would ONLY allow – Elyon, help him – his most cherished work, The Circle Series, to be produced with a mega-budget, talented actors (not necessarily big-name, although, wouldn’t it be fun to see Brendan Gleeson as Qurong, Kate Beckinsale as Rachelle, and Thomas Dekker as Thomas Hunter? – crazy, I know, but it really is the name of the actor from TV’s 7th Heaven, Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and an A-list director (Jackson, Spielberg, del Toro, Cameron, Wachowski, Singer, or JJ Abrams anyone?).
A few favorite scenes from The Circle Series:
Unbeliever finally meets his Creator
Thomas approaches the great circular lake, glowing fluorescent with emerald water, surrounded by majestic creatures. Strangely drawn by the divine water, he gives in to the growing desperation inside him as he suddenly screams, runs to the lake and dives in. The moment he enters the sacrosanct waters, he begins to shake – sure that he will die. But instead of death, pleasure envelopes his body. Diving farther into the warm water, Thomas loses his sense of direction, and without thinking, inhales. Delighted that he can somehow breathe the intoxicating liquid, he swims deeper and deeper into the lake’s mysterious power until he hears three musical words… “I made this.” And then a child giggles. “Elyon?”
“I made this.”
The words reached into Thomas’s bones, and he began to tremble again. He wasn’t sure if it was an actual voice, or whether he was somehow imagining it.
“What are you? Where are you?” Light floated by. Waves of pleasure continued to sweep through him. “Who are you?”
“I am Elyon.”
“And I made you.”
The words started in his mind and burned through his body like a spreading fire.
“Do you like it?”
Yes! Thomas said. He might have spoken, he might have shouted, he didn’t know. He only knew that his whole body screamed it.
Thomas looked around. “Elyon?”
The voice was different now. Spoken. The music was gone. A simple, innocent question.
“Do you doubt me?”
In that single moment, the full weight of his terrible foolishness crashed in on him like a sledgehammer. How could he have doubted this?
Thomas curled into a fetal position within the bowels of the lake and began to moan.
“I see you, Thomas.”
“I made you.”
“I love you.”
THE CIRCLE TRILOGY, BLACK, Pgs. 209, 210
(Acts 9:5, ““Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!)
Leader overtaken by disease after inability to bathe
After the land falls to sin, a terrible disease overtakes its inhabitants. The malady painfully flakes and cracks the skin, turns the eyes gray, makes the body reek of rotten eggs, and corrupts the mind. But Elyon provides a way for those who follow Him to counteract the disease’s effects and remain in remission: Bathe daily in one of Elyon’s seven lakes.
So each night, after their daily dip in Elyon’s lake, the Forest People gather to dance, sing and celebrate the Great Romance. The daily cleansing is the difference between the Forest Dwellers and the Scabs, or Horde – those who turned their backs on Elyon and refused to bathe, whose bodies and minds have completely turned putrid. Of course, Scabs could bathe, cleanse their skin and rinse away the revolting stench. What discourages them from bathing is the horrible pain of water on their rotting flesh. Instead, they are content to live with the disease’s painful effects. One day, the Forest Dweller’s heralded leader, Thomas Hunter, experiences this first hand…
Thomas had once been stranded for four days in the desert without a horse. He had two canteens, and he’s used one for a spit bath on the second day. But by the end of the third day, the onset of the disease was so painful that he could hardly walk. His skin had turned gray and flaked, and a foul odor seeped from his pores. He was still a day’s walk from the nearest forest.
In a fit of panic he’d stripped naked, flung himself on the sand, and begged the blistering sun to burn the flesh from his bones. For the first time he knew what it meant to be a Desert Dweller. It was indeed hell on earth.
On the morning of the fourth day, he began to see the world differently. His craving for fresh water diminished. The sand felt better underfoot. He began to think that living life in this new gray skin might not be impossible after all. He wrote the thoughts off to hallucination and expected to die of thirst by day’s end.
A group of straying Horde found him and mistook him for one of their own. He drank their stale water and donned a hooded cloak and demanded a horse…
THE CIRCLE TRILOGY, RED, Pg. 463
(Psalm 42:1, “As a deer thirsts for streams of water, so I thirst for you, God.”)
Sister defends doctrine by fighting brother in deadly challenge
Samuel, the eldest son of renowned leader, Thomas Hunter, has challenged Elyon’s doctrine of love among the thousands of believers gathered. Forest Dwellers have long vowed to love their enemies and not wage war on them. But Samuel pushes for the crowd to pick up arms once again to hunt and kill the Scabs (unbelievers) who continue to murder the innocent – including some very close friends of his. He challenges that Elyon once condoned the use of force. Has He changed his mind now? “Well, well, by the heavens, I’ve made a dreadful mistake, I will change the way it is done!” He doubts this sounds like a perfect Creator. According to their customs and rights, his sister, Marie, takes up the challenge to defend their difference of doctrinal opinion – depending on Elyon to save the life of the one who speaks the truth. As Father and Mother watch helplessly…
“So, Sister. It’s you and me, is it?”
“Looks that way.” She walked closer, dragging her sword casually behind her. Not to fool a soul; they all knew she was a devil with that thing.
Samuel glanced at the blade, leaning on his own with confidence. “I’m not the young pup you punished the last time we played this game.”
“This isn’t a game,” Marie said. “You’re playing with the fate of our people.”
“You’ll get hurt,” he said.
“Then hurt me, Brother.”
GREEN, Pgs. 21, 22
(Titus 1:9, “…holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”)
One day in the not so distant future?
Ted, we can’t wait. But please, please, please…do it right. And we will stand for hours in long lines in the rain, anticipating our deep dive into the best movie finally made.
The boy stepped to one side and winked. “Then dive, my friend.”
Thomas faced the glassy pool. “Dive? In here?”
“Dive deep,” the boy said.
Thomas took one last breath, nodded at the boy, and dived deep.
Very, very deep.
GREEN, Pg. 384
(Special thanks to my supervisor, Paul Herman, for his ideas, input – and most of all – for introducing me to the thrilling and inspiring world of Ted Dekker with Blink of an Eye).
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Comments
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| ZyrusC
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September 24, 2009 07:44am
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Wow. Sounds really interesting. I hadn't heard of The Circle Series or Ted Dekker (haven't read a book in a while) but just from your passionate plea and book snippets, this sounds like something that I should look into. My world is full of busy-ness so I really doubt I'd find the time or attention to really "dive" into the text but it's interesting nonetheless. Definitely piqued my attention.
I obviously haven't read any of the books that have made it to the movies but I loathe when a movie could've been made better. All comes down to business, the particular audience that the director or movie company is betting its bucks on and so forth. The result is too many movies that miss the mark. I love a good script. Sure, I love great action movies as well but what's wrong with both. The more I think about it, the more I probably should pick up a book and let my imagination fly like I did when I was younger.
Thanks again for such a great write-up.
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| Dirk
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September 24, 2009 11:06am
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BBC did a Hitchhikers Guide. Much better than your ref.. However, After becoming a Follower of the Way, Douglas' material is somewhat unsuitable reading now. By Accountability Brother, Lynn was the one who revealed Dekker material to me. I bought the Circle and read it and have no regrets.
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| Gregory Fish
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September 24, 2009 12:39pm
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I love Dekker's work. I have not purchased Green yet, but I sure will. The Circle would make for great movies!
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| TMCarroll
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September 24, 2009 10:42am
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ZyrusC, great feedback, thanks. Yes, please pick up a book and fly like a child again (that's where God usually meets us anyway). But be warned: once you dive into DEKKER you won't be able to resurface for awhile!
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| TLC
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October 20, 2009 11:58am
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thanks for writing this article Mr. Carroll! Dekker is one of my faves and the Circle trilogy is one I reflect upon often, as well. Can't wait to get my hands on Green. And can't wait to see the movie/movies someday (hopefully sooner, than later)!
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| ELC
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December 4, 2009 01:24pm
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Yes, this movie series must either be done right or not at all. I already have the whole Circle series fleshed out in my head (in anime form), and if done right, it would be incredible. But again, it must be done right.
In case I didn't get the point across, it must be done right.
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