Friday 11 May 2018

My favourite book or film

"Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They both are fruit, 
but taste completely different." - Stephen King

Books are a pleasure that good readers enjoy. They lead you through mysteries, such as Agatha Christie's detective stories or Dan Brown's plots, to scientific, philosophical, historical, romantic issues in an endless number of genres written both in formal and informal language, fiction and non-fiction. 

When I was about ten, my father gave me a book to read it carefully, as it contained "messages that I would cherish all my life long". He was not fond of reading, but that book had meant a lot to him and wanted to transfer his feelings to me.

From Enrico's diary
I enjoyed reading it! The book written by Edmondo de Amicis, “Cuore”, the Italian term for "Heart", tells us about  Enrico—the main character—who is a nine-year-old boy, who writes about his life at school, his friends and not so much friends, their families, his teachers ... The novel covers one year of Enrico´s life at school narrated in the form of a diary; each classmate´s life develops and grows in your mind and you end up by feeling love and understanding for them. As Enrico’s classmates, you also waited eagerly for reading the story of the month; these remarkable “monthly stories” were short stories full of sensitivity, braveness, endurance, warmth and genuine love—one of such stories was “From the Apennines to the Andes”...

Grand Rex, Paris, France
As a teenager, I developed a liking for watching films in those attractive buildings with a superb architecture, similar to opera houses, where you could enjoy watching both the surroundings and the films and everyone would be quiet and respectful... no popcorn existed… Technicolor and Cinerama brought elegance and modernity, and super-productions became common. Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, Star Wars and E.T The extraterrestrial were invested with the stateliness of the theatres.

Although technological advances have made possible to give life on screen to Tolkien's fantastic world, The Lord of the Rings; and Crichton's Jurassic Park;  I'd have liked to have watched them in the magnificent buildings of the past century without the sound of popcorn around me.

I enjoy watching films, so naming my favourite one is  especially hard to me. Big Fish, As Good as it gets, The lord of the rings, Sense and Sensibility, Skyfall, La la Land, Rainman, The Cyder House Rules, Faceoff, Dead Poet's Society ... are just a few of films that come to my mind...


Yet, there is a film that I think everyone should watch to live and learn from. We often hear that books are far better than films. A long time ago, I watched a film named "The Shawshank Redemption", a beautiful story of a man accused of murdering his wife and how he faced his life in prison; it has an extraordinary ending. Great casting, well-structured film.

I looked for the book and I realized that it was a rather short  (about 50 pages long) story written by Stephen King. The author and the director of the film worked together; the film was nominated to several Oscar awards, but won none. To the critics' surprise, the video was a complete success and today is considered a real masterpiece...! And I must say that the film was to me better than the novel; the music, the location, the casting and the direction contributed to the enrichment of a solid story.

Now, it is your turn:

Tell me what your favourite film OR book is
What makes them attractive
When  you read/watched them
Why you recommend them
Minumum length :140 words.
Remember to make comments on 3 of your classmates' posts and also the teacher's 

22 comments:

  1. I would like to see the movie, but I would prefer to read the book first

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Katherine,
      You'll probably be disappointed by reading the short story... the film was much better to me...
      See you,

      Delete
  2. Stephen King, what a great writer! I'm reading a book by him, it's called "Maleficio".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Megumi,
      What other books of him have you read? You seem to be a fan of him.
      See you

      Delete
  3. I totally love The Shawshank Redemption, amazing end

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Belen,
      Nice to know you enjoyed it....I have watched it many times...
      See you,

      Delete
  4. the lord of the rings, i love too, the interesting to the movies (and the books) is the dimensions that take the world created by Tolkien, the elves have his proper language created by Tolkien!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Vicente,
      Technology has allowed a great director to re-create the world of Tolkien in an amazing way.
      See you,

      Delete
  5. I remember that I watched all the films of Lord of the Ring in one day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Catalina,
      The three extended versions...? Congratulations.
      See you,

      Delete
  6. I love it the big fish and the dead poet´s society

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sofía,
      Both are incredible films... Lucky us we can watch it at home...
      See you,

      Delete
  7. I really enjoy watch The lord of the rings! For me this film is a master piece!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Francia,
      I agree with you... The lord of the rings is a masterpiece in its genre...
      See you,

      Delete
  8. Nice choice, I like Skayfall, film about James Bond detective stories, no?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Raúl,
      Skyfall is probably one of the best OO7 films with the new Bonds.
      See you,

      Delete
  9. I don´t watch The Shawshank Redemption, a pending movie viewing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ariel,
      The Shawshank Redemption is a must.... Try it, you won't regret.
      See you,

      Delete
  10. I really enjoyed the film "The Shawshank Redemption". It is very entertaining. I does´t known that was writen by Stephen King!! Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rafael,
      I learned that he was the author of the short story after watching the film... It was a big surprise to me too.
      See you,

      Delete
  11. The lord of the rings was amazing! I really enojoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Haidee,
      The LOTR trilogy is great... The Sirmallion is coming soon...
      See you,

      Delete