Interview with Novelist Christian Heinke
In the current issue of Geek! I am interviewed by Marcus Offermanns on the topic of literary adaptation using World War Z as an example.
About the transformation of Max Brooks’ book »Operation Zombie« into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Christian Heinke - born in 1970, lives and works in Bochum - publishes his novels via his website heinke.digital. »Die Haut« (The Skin) was published by KaMeRu Verlag in 2008.
Geek: How far can a movie stray from the novel?
HEINKE: A movie inherently diverges from the novel due to the shift in medium. The extent of the changes depends on the original medium. The problem comes down to whether a source text is easy to film or whether the movie has to find a different voice than the book suggests at first. With »World War Z«, the starting point is a very documentary book in which many characters report on the zombie apocalypse. The filmmaker faces a huge problem in turning such an ensemble piece into an exciting zombie film. The problem is which of the book’s many stories to focus on.
Geek: What is the danger of changing too much?
HEINKE: It’s always a shame when the soul of a story is missing. And I think the soul of ‘World War Z’ is the story of human error. It’s about how people deal with a big crisis and the mistakes they make because they’re human. If artists do not follow those elements, it can lead to an artistic flop.
Geek: What’s the point of making such deep interventions as »World War Z« evidently happened?
HEINKE: I can understand the changes, as the book as it stands would be unfilmable. If you were to make a pseudo-documentary with different voices reporting on the zombie apocalypse, that would be one way of doing it, but it’s not Hollywood-friendly. Furthermore, the creators plan ‘World War Z’ as a trilogy to meet Hollywood’s requirement for the hero’s journey. Based on the material, it is important that the viewer can still follow the plot. That wouldn’t be the case for the mass audience in book form, and because this movie is expensive, elaborate and big, it has to appeal to mass taste. You understand that, but there might be other solutions. I share the concern that the movie doesn’t meet the expectations of fans of the book, but I’m optimistic that they’re committed to creating a successful new zombie trilogy.
Geek: As a novelist, how would you react if the movie adaptation of your book ended up having little in common with your work?
HEINKE: In principle, I am open to anyone buying me (laughs) and I would be delighted if someone took one of my novels and made it into a movie. I know how difficult it is to turn an original text into a movie, so I would be lenient.
