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> The news about the planned hollywood adaptation is both exciting and frightening. These are really not cinematic stories as far as I can tell

I don't know, I think some of them could be adapted to screen really quite well ("Tower of Babylon" and "Seventy-two Letters" spring to mind). But regardless, honestly I'm just grateful Hollywood is tackling more challenging material more than anything.

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I was thrilled to find out Denis Villeneuve is doing the adaptation. He's a fantastic director, with complex, morally challenging films.

I'm not so sure that Villeneuve is such a great fit. I find the dominant feeling in his films is always one of dread or disgust, or both. In a way, I'd rather have a more "neutral" director tackle this. Take Carl Sagan's Contact for example. I know it's not exactly like Story of Your Life, but it's something of a reference in the way it was adapted to cinema. One of the things that give the movie its power and beauty is the director's humility: he doesn't try to make a cinematic experiment out of it. Granted, the fact that Sagan was involved in the production and originally intended the story to be adapted to cinema is also an important factor.

In fact, the best thing would probably be Ted Chiang getting similarly involved in the production!

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