I find that if the setting highly informs the story, hearing the sounds and patterns of the appropriate language adds a lot. For example, The Lives of Others would have been far less effective if it were not in German.
Subtitles make me feel almost like I do actually understand other spoken languages. That’s a cool feeling in itself, and at least for some such films, it adds a specific transportive power that simply couldn’t be done any other way. The closest comparison I can think of is regional music. I don’t want every movie to have American and British rock and pop soundtracks, and I don’t want every movie to be in English.
I saw a sneak preview of The Social Network (GREAT movie!) and she was in it as the girl who breaks up with Zuckerberg at the beginning of the movie, which causes him to build a web site that causes a ruckus on campus. The part was too small to get a real feel of her acting abilities, but she did very well, and, especially in a scene later in the movie, she has real charisma. I have to admit that I kept looking at her and trying to picture her as Lisbeth. If Fincher trusts she can do it, she’ll pull it off.
I would not doubt it. He originally planned a ten book series and only got as far as the girl who played with fire. However there is a fourth book that exists on his laptop in manuscript form, which could be worth a lot of money.
I think there are some pretty good arguments for remaking it personally. I haven’t read the book but I’ve seen the Swedish version and it could certainly use some serious improvement. In particular the girls ‘stuff’ with her parole officer is entirely unconvincing, the film just doesn’t adequately justify her motivation for her actions. The whole first half is pretty terrible.
The second half of the film is much better but lacks the thick tension that it should have and makes the detective work by the journalist seem too easy. I would have classed it as ‘ok’, but a remake that keeps it’s best bits (the location, ideally the actress) whilst upping the production and direction levels could really be a great film.
Basically they are doing it for money hats, but there are some sound reasons for it none-the-less.
To kick this thread with a bit of great great news, Trent Reznor will be doing the soundtrack! Oh man, I love the books, and oh man I love the Swedish movies, but man oh man am I looking forward to the new version!
I was a loudmouthed naysayer when it was announced that Let The Right One In was going to be remade for America, much worse than anybody in this thread, I was positively insufferable, and it turned out I was wrong as wrong as wrong could be, because Let Me In was one of the best movies of 2010.
This will, I’m absolutely sure of it, be a worthy remake too. The people involved are just too good to fuck it up. It will lead tons of people to the books and the Swedish movies who would never have sought them out. I see nothing but win all around here.
? Violent anal rape by her legal guardian [not parole officer. She was judged incompetent when she was 13 and given a legal guardian because her mother had been beaten severely enough to cause permanent brain damage, placing her into a care facility] not enough?
I thought that they handled it fine in the movie. It was originally made as a miniseries so they couldn’t dwell on violent porn as if it was a theatrical release movie.
What’s not to get? Most Americans do not like to watch foreign movies with subtitles. More people will go to see an English version of it in the United States than would ever go see a subtitled version. I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and while it was an enjoyable little investigative movie I don’t really think it’s a classic that just can’t be remade.
Chuckled at this… then noticed that I had written it. THAT’S what I love about “advanced middle age”… I have no recollection of this, and I look at it as “Wasn’t that younger digs a clever guy.” Welles eschewing the “over-saturated Panavision look”, indeed. Witty, digsy, verrrry witty.
BTW, younger digs must have read this thread-- I do know he went and read the ‘Girl Who’ books, liked them, watched the first movie, and didn’t mind the subtitles.
There used to be a legitimate reason for this attitude: the Hays Code. I was talking to my dad about this a while ago when he commented that back in his (Ivy league) college days in the late 50s/early 60s, the intelligencia all watched subtitled foreign films. Of course they did; American movies were censored to within an inch of their lives by the Hays code. Grownup movies were foreign.
Bringing the story to a different audience isn’t just money, it’s entertainment that wouldn’t otherwise be enjoyed. I had no idea this was a movie at all. I’ve seen the book in the stores for years, never quite picked it up. I’ll likely see the movie, though I’m an avid reader, and yep, I’ll wait for the American one, cause…I’m American, and more likely to enjoy something interpreted for me. It beats both voice-overs and subtitles, cause the subtitles are also ALWAYS wrong in some subtle <or not so subtle> way. There are many movies I enjoy thoroughly and love to death that are subtitled, and I love them that way, but I would not, at this point, be interested in the film as is. Being in English, translated <both words AND plot> into something more entertaining to my background, pushes me towards seeing it rather than “Oh, everyone likes that, I should see it sometime…but I think I’ll watch Kung Fu Hustle again instead. Or maybe Cyrano d’Bergerac. Or Tout la matins…something I already know I like.”
I actually just googled the Esperanto Citizen Cain, because I had never heard that piece of trivia before… I only realised it was a joke when I remembered that Panavision wasn’t invented till the 50s! It must be too early in the morning for me… :o
Back on topic, there are some stylized pictures of Rooney as Lisbeth in the new issue of W magazine. These aren’t stills from the movie, they’re from a photo shoot. Seriously, I don’t expect to see Lisbeth wearing a tutu. Still, it gives you a better idea of what Rooney will look like in character than we can imagine while watching The Social Network (or maybe that’s just me, since every time I’ve seen TSN, 3 times now, I’m distracted trying to picture her as Lisbeth).
To see more photos, click the link above the first picture (“See all the Rooney Mara photos”) for a slideshow.
The article itself is interesting too, about Fincher, about The Social Network, and includes lot of information about this movie.
“You have to get it right. Or there’s no point at all.” - David Fincher
Let’s hope. I have much hope. That said, this bothers me, but I’ll hold off on the bitching:
We’ll see. The eyes of the world are on them. Well, a lot of eyes anyway.
Hopefully that news won’t lead to an avalanche of nerd whining like the incredibly retarded yet persistant “But Constantine has blonde hair!” outrage. Endlessly irritating how some miss the forest for the trees.
I can think of several major changes that would improve the ending.
Just caught HORNET’S NEST today (it’s showing at one theater in NY by now, in a freezing basement cinema off Fifth Avenue which was quite fitting) and I was amazed at how well they adapted the book, which moves at the speed of continental drift, to a movie which moved about as fast as a crosstown bus. And with an ending that qualifies as a huge sweeping romantic kiss by Salander terms! There was a mild cheer when Lizbeth came out for her trial in full leather punk goth gear, though. From all eleven of us in the theater.
Are they doing all three books in Hollywood, or are they waiting to see what happens with the BO for DRAGON TATTOO?
I think they’re pretty committed to filming all 3 books. Dragon Tattoo will be a huge hit, if not in blockbuster terms then definitely in arthouse terms. There’s no danger of it flopping. It’s David FINCHER, and he is going to do it justice, and do it well. I have faith.
Dunno. Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan and made almost no changes from the original, yet Nolan’s version was tediously boring and the original was quite intriguing.
I’d generally trust either Nolan or Fincher to do well, but it’s not a true given.
I’ve never seen the original, but I was mighty entertained by the Nolan version of Insomnia. He got a good performance out of Hilary Swank (who I normally don’t care for), so that’s something.
Nolan’s Insomia got a respectable 7.3 user rating on imdb and an impressive 92% at RottenTomatoes. Seems as if both fans and critics liked it. It was also profitable, costing under $50 million and grossing over $100 million worldwide. ($67 million in the US.)
? Violent anal rape by her legal guardian [not parole officer. She was judged incompetent when she was 13 and given a legal guardian because her mother had been beaten severely enough to cause permanent brain damage, placing her into a care facility] not enough?