Literary
see all genres ›From cinema's earliest days, filmmakers found ready material not just in classic literature but in new best-sellers, prize-winning fiction and pulp-lit as well. Though as many a student has learned to their grief, it is not always wise to give a report on the book when in fact you've only "seen the movie."
Watch Literary Films
Genres / Adaptation / Literary
-
A Shock to the System
A middle-aged advertising executive loses his long-awaited promotion to a younger man. In frustration, he accidentally pushes a panhandler in front of a subway train... and gets away with the death. Realizing that committing murder might be a little easier than he previously...Watch Movie
-
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Werner Herzog's German version of his eerie color remake of F.W. Murnau's original vampire classic is at once faithful to Murnau's film and quintessentially Herzogian, right down to the casting of Herzog's demon alter ego Klaus Kinski in the role he was born to play. Kinski is...Watch Movie
-
Black Sunday
In one of the most auspicious directorial debuts in movie history, Mario Bava bridged the gap between the gothic horror picture and the European art film with BLACK SUNDAY (aka LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO or THE MASK OF SATAN). Made in 1960 and now considered a cult classic, it continues to...Watch Movie
-
Fear and Trembling
A dream job rapidly becomes a nightmare for Amelie, a Japanese-born Belgian woman, who suffers a series of increasingly humiliating demotions after she lands a job as an interpreter at a large Japanese corporation. Sylvie Testud earned the French equivalent of the Academy...Watch Movie
-
Chariots of the Gods
"Fifty million stars in our galaxy have the potential of supporting life forms capable of traveling to other planets," says world-renowned authority Erich von Daniken, whose film version of his best-selling book, CHARIOTS OF THE GODS, gives stunning visual proof that some form...Watch Movie
-
La captive
Chantal Akerman’s insinuating chamber drama distills the romantic pathologies of suspicion and control with remarkable precision. Based on the fifth volume Proust’s IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, LA CAPTIVE treats the novel’s fetishized structures of detail and time as symptoms of a slow spreading...Watch Movie
-
Wake in Fright
Alongside MAD MAX and WALKABOUT, WAKE IN FRIGHT is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern Australian cinema. Directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Donald Pleasence, WAKE IN FRIGHT tells the nightmarish story of a schoolteacher's descent into personal...Watch Movie
-
Jerichow
In a small desolate town in northeastern Germany, a handsome ex-soldier, a Turkish businessman and his beautiful, restless wife find themselves in a desperate love triangle in this suspenseful reworking of the James M. Cain's novel THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE from acclaimed director Christian...Watch Movie
-
Poison
The second feature directed by Todd Haynes, POISON is a groundbreaking American independent film and was the most fervently debated film of the 1990s as well as a trailblazing landmark of queer cinema. A work of immense visual invention, Haynes' spectacular follow-up to his legendary SUPERSTAR:...Watch Movie
-
The Trial
Adapted from the novel by Franz Kafka, THE TRIAL stars Anthony Perkins as Joseph K., an innocent victim charged with an unnamed crime. Masterfully directed by Orson Welles, who sets a riveting, maddening and brilliantly disturbing pace. While the source for THE TRIAL is described as "restored" it...Watch Movie
-
Who am I This Time?
Mix together a small town community theatre's shy leading man and the lovely telephone worker who moves into town and you have a perfect recipe for a delightful romantic comedy. Academy Award® winners Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken star as the couple who discover that...Watch Movie
-
The Grand Inquisitor
Legendary blacklisted Hollywood actress Marsha Hunt, 90, makes a stunning return to the screen in this haunting short film that writer-director Eddie Muller describes as "a noir fairy tale, based on actual events." A young woman (Leah Dashe) discovers a cache of used books...Watch Movie
-
Street of Crocodiles
Stephen and Timothy Quay's masterpiece, STREET OF CROCODILES is adapted from the book by Polish writer Bruno Schulz and was their first film shot on 35mm. A museum keeper spits into the eyepiece of an ancient peep-show and sets the musty machine in motion, plunging the viewer...Watch Movie
-
Cobra Verde
Werner Herzog’s final collaboration with Klaus Kinski was, like FITZCARRALDO and AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD before it, a fact-inspired saga of exotic physical adventure whose production was nearly as arduous as the events depicted. Based on Bruce Chatwin’s novel "The Viceroy of Ouidah" (which was,...Watch Movie
-
Night Tide
A sailor on shore leave becomes fascinated by a woman who poses as a mermaid in an oceanfront carnival. As their relationship blossoms, Johnny (Dennis Hopper) realizes that Mora (Linda Lawson) is more than a sideshow illusionist. She seems to be a descendent of the mythical sirens of the sea, and...Watch Movie
-
The Romantic Englishwoman
A sly, sophisticated love story, THE ROMANTIC ENGLISHWOMAN is a "masterfully acted comedy" (San Francisco Examiner) that is a showcase for its two Oscar®-winning stars: Michael Caine (HANNAH AND HER SISTERS) and Glenda Jackson (WOMEN IN LOVE). Caine plays successful novelist...Watch Movie
-
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Werner Herzog's English version of F.W. Murnau's original film pays homage to many of the latter's memorable images with stunning recreations while creating a number of his own dreamy moments: the twilight hike of Bruno Ganz's Jonathan Harker through the fog-ringed Carpathian...Watch Movie
