Accurate Adaptations of English Novels (18-20th century)
The most accurate adaptations of each novel I know of. If there's a more faithful alternative, please let me know.
Virginia Woolf
James Joyce
D.H. Lawrence
Joseph Conrad
William James
Thomas Hardy
George Eliot
Charles Dickens
Emily and Charlotte Bronte
Jane Austen
Walter Scott
Laurence Sterne
Henry Fielding
Samuel Richardson
Jonathan Swift
Daniel Defoe
Virginia Woolf
James Joyce
D.H. Lawrence
Joseph Conrad
William James
Thomas Hardy
George Eliot
Charles Dickens
Emily and Charlotte Bronte
Jane Austen
Walter Scott
Laurence Sterne
Henry Fielding
Samuel Richardson
Jonathan Swift
Daniel Defoe
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39 titles
- DirectorSally PotterStarsTilda SwintonBilly ZaneQuentin CrispAfter Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
- DirectorColin GreggStarsRosemary HarrisMichael GoughSuzanne BertishA family spends their last summer at the seashore, before personal tragedy and the outbreak of World War I destroy their world.
- DirectorMarleen GorrisStarsVanessa RedgraveNatascha McElhoneMichael KitchenIn 1923 London, socialite Clarissa Dalloway's (Vanessa Redgrave's) well-planned party is overshadowed by the return of an old suitor she had known thirty-three years earlier.
- DirectorJoseph StrickStarsMilo O'SheaBarbara JeffordMaurice RoëvesJames Joyce's masterpiece incarnated: The story of two seperated Dublin wanderers, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, struggling to control their personal lives.
- DirectorChristopher MilesStarsJoanna ShimkusFranco NeroHonor BlackmanThe story, adapted from a novella by D.H. Lawrence, tells how the daughter of a staid Rector in the north of England, rebels against her family by having a relationship with a gypsy, and how "the voice of the water" triumphs in the end.
- DirectorAnthony PelissierStarsValerie HobsonJohn Howard DaviesRonald SquireA young boy receives a rocking horse for Christmas and soon learns that he is able to pick the winning horse at the races.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsAlan BatesOliver ReedGlenda JacksonTwo best friends fall in love with a pair of women, but the relationships soon go in very different directions.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsTrevor HowardDean StockwellWendy HillerA young man with artistic talent lives in a close-knit coal-mining town and finds himself inhibited by his emotionally manipulative mother.
- DirectorChristopher HamptonStarsBob HoskinsPatricia ArquetteGérard DepardieuVerloc lives in London 1886 with a pretty wife and her retarded brother. He's an agent for the Russian embassy. A new ambassador wants more from him than in the past years - something with a bomb. Verloc also informs the police.
- StarsBrian DennehyAlbert FinneyColin FirthIn an unstable South American country, capable Nostromo, a person of trust and a legend among his shipmates, is ordered to secure a shipment of silver and stop any revolutionaries who might try to take it. But even the bravest can be foolish.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsPeter O'TooleJames MasonCurd JürgensAfter being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsJennifer Jason LeighAlbert FinneyMaggie SmithIn this adaptation of the Henry James novel set in 19th-century New York City, a wealthy spinster with an overbearing father is pursued by a handsome fortune hunter who may be only after her money.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsNicole KidmanJohn MalkovichBarbara HersheyAn American girl inherits a fortune and falls into a misguided relationship with a gentleman confidence artist whose true nature, including a barbed and covetous disposition, turns her life into a nightmare.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsCybill ShepherdBarry BrownCloris LeachmanIn this comedy of manners, Frederick Winterbourne tries to figure out the bright and bubbly Daisy Miller, only to be helped and hindered by false judgments from their fellow friends.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsChristopher EcclestonKate WinsletLiam CunninghamIn late 1800s England, Jude plans to go to the city and attend university but marries early and becomes a stonemason. When his wife leaves, he moves to the city, where he befriends his liberal cousin Sue.
- StarsGemma ArtertonEddie RedmayneRuth JonesThe story of Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family find they have noble connections.
- DirectorDavid ThackerStarsCiarán HindsJuliet AubreyJodhi MayA drunken farm worker sells his wife and child at a market and begins a new life of wealth and respect as the Mayor of Casterbridge. However, his past returns to haunt him when he is reunited with his family, with unexpected consequences.
- DirectorJack GoldStarsCatherine Zeta-JonesClive OwenRay StevensonReddleman Diggory Venn drives slowly across the heath, carrying a hidden passenger in the back of his van. When darkness falls, the country folk light bonfires on the hills, emphasizing the pagan spirit of the heath and its denizens.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsCarey MulliganMatthias SchoenaertsMichael SheenIn Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
- DirectorNicholas LaughlandStarsKeeley HawesJames MurrayTerry MortimerIn this lighthearted romance from Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy, the beautiful new village school teacher is pursued by three suitors: a working-class man, a landowner, and the vicar.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsFreddie BartholomewFrank LawtonEdna May OliverA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
- StarsDouglas HodgeJuliet AubreyTrevyn McDowellMiddlemarch is a story of provincial life on the brink of momentous change and a deeply moving saga about a group of people striving to give meaning and value to their lives during the Industrial Revolution.
- DirectorGraham TheakstonStarsEmily WatsonCheryl CampbellJames FrainLawyer Wakem takes away the mill on the river Floss from Edward Tulliver, whose ancestors owned it for 300 years, and becomes the worst enemy of Tulliver's family. When Edward's daughter, Maggie, grows up, she falls in love with Wakem's son Philip, but her brother Tom, true to the memory of their father, forbids her to meet him again. When she visits her cousin, Lucy Deane, Lucy's fiance Stephen Guest falls in love with Maggie at first sight, further complicating matters.
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsMia WasikowskaMichael FassbenderJamie BellA mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
- DirectorDavid SkynnerStarsRobert CavanahPeter DavisonOrla BradyMistreated foundling Heathcliff and his stepsister Catherine fall in love, but when she marries a wealthy man, he becomes obsessed with getting revenge, even well into the next generation.
- DirectorAdrian ShergoldStarsSally HawkinsAlice KrigeAnthony HeadAnne was in love with Frederick, who was rejected by her snobby parents 8 years ago. They've now hit hard times and rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law. He returns a Royal Navy captain. Will he remember Anne?
- DirectorJon JonesStarsGeraldine JamesMichael JuddJulia DeardenA young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsEmma ThompsonKate WinsletJames FleetRich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.
- StarsAnna MasseyAngela PleasenceSylvestra Le TouzelImpoverished Fanny Price is sent to live with her more affluent uncle and aunt. The arrival of new neighbors brings a chance for romance to Fanny and her cousins.
- DirectorDiarmuid LawrenceStarsKate BeckinsaleBernard HeptonMark StrongFaithful, enchanting adaptation of Jane Austen's nineteenth-century tale of Emma Woodhouse--a clever young woman whose mischievous matchmaking schemes nearly end up jeopardizing her own shot at romance.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsLiam NeesonJessica LangeJohn HurtIn 1713 Scotland, Rob Roy MacGregor is wronged by a nobleman and his nephew, becomes an outlaw in search of revenge while fleeing the Redcoats, and faces charges of being a Jacobite.
- DirectorDouglas CamfieldStarsJames MasonAnthony AndrewsSam NeillWilfred of Ivanhoe, a worthy and noble knight, the champion of justice returns to England after the holy wars. He finds England under the reign of Prince John and his henchmen and finds himself being involved in the power-struggle for the throne of England. Will justice prevail and will all fair ladies in distress be rescued?
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsSteve CooganJeremy NorthamRob BrydonDirector Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsAlbert FinneySusannah YorkGeorge DevineThe romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.
- DirectorJim O'ConnollyStarsAnn MichelleJulian BarnesDudley FosterLoosely bases on Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, this is the story of Pamela who goes to work in the kitchen of Lord Devenish who is determined to rape her.
- StarsSean BeanSaskia WickhamJonny PhillipsA virtuous young woman is oppressed by her ambitious family and a rake who's becomes obsessed with her.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyOrestes CalpiniStarsJessica DragonetteLanny RossPinto ColvigA doctor washes ashore on an island inhabited by little people.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsDan O'HerlihyJaime FernándezFelipe de AlbaThe classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.
- CreatorDominic MinghellaStarsJames BowersAlex KingstonDaniel CraigStory of a woman who merely wished to be a loving wife, but always had to live the life of crime.