Hanseat

Just found this short review of the new and improved Psycho in a TV Guide:

"It's amazing how much Gus Van Sant's lovingly crafted homage to the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic sticks to the original. Van Sant keeps the famous music, title design, script and final big twist, which adds hugely to the film's entertainment value. Vince Vaughn is impressively twitchy in Anthony Perkins' old part as motel owner Norman Bates."
No, no irony here, as the reviewer gives the film 3 out of 5 stars.

See, Christine, we all just didn't get the "lovingly crafted homage" thing.

Hanseat

Steve Crook

Amazing. What a total lack of imagination, by the reviewer as well as by Van Sant. It's like someone copying an old master painting and then getting credit for having painted the original

Steve

Windthrop

Its been going on for a long time - 'The Prisoner of Zenda' 1952 remake is a virtual scene4scene line4line colour version of the 1936 film

christoph404

Spielberg chose to shoot the film in black and white because any actual footage he had seen from WW2 and the concentration camps had been in black and white so the answer would be yes, to evoke the realsim he had been educated with, ie black and white newsreel footage. Schindlers List was the first black and white film to win and Oscar for best film/director since 1960, Billy Wilders "The Apartment" I think Spelberg may have watched John Frankenhiemers "The Train", to me they look visually quite similar in terms of lighting and deep focus. I think black and white photography has a lot more graphic power than colour film, especially in dealing with that kind of subject matter, well thats my humble opinion anyway, Schindlers List would be a very different film in colour Im sure.

christoph404

I think it must take an incredibly high opinion of youself as a director to remake a movie which is already considered a work of art. I think conceit is the word Im looking for. Alfred Hitchcock was an artist and his film "Psycho" is a work of art using black and white photography to full effect. I watched the first 20 minutes of the remake in total disbelief, it is utter rubbish, a pointless and crass exercise in copying someone else's work for no apparent reason that I can see, why bother?
Another remake that makes me laugh with disbelief was Steven Soderberg's "Solaris" I mean , remaking an Andrei Tarkovsky film? ha ha ha....Why not really go for it and remake Kubrick's 2001? Oh but everyone knows about 2001 so lets remake a Tarkovsky film because not many people have heard of him and his films were really cool and clever. Just stick to Oceans 14 and 15 and leave art to true artists is what I say!!

grillreaper

I think remakes should be entirely reinterpritated.

If it came from a book, Charlie Choc Factory, then the director should go back to the book but not base the remake on the previous film.

I couldn't imagine it is very inspiring to just make a remake than a completely new film and this may effect the energy that goes into it.

batman

[quote=christoph404;67559]Another remake that makes me laugh with disbelief was Steven Soderberg's "Solaris" I mean , remaking an Andrei Tarkovsky film? quote]

I thought Soderbergh's Solaris was pretty good. It lacked the dramatic depth of the original but it was atmospheric, well acted and well directed. It also had an superb soundtrack.

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Nick Dando

And it was a bit more accessable than the Tarkovsky version. Even at 90 minutes or so, it seemed long. But nowhere near as long as the original.
I like them both, and I agree about the superb soundtrack.

Nick

batman

Tarkovsky's original is very long. I remember seeing it at the cinema a few years back and nearly nodded off. I taped it off TV after that and had to watch it in two sittings. The remake was slow moving but I did not find myself losing interest, but I expect part of that was due to the music. Strangely it is not available on CD.

Bats.

ps - speaking of nodding off at the cinema, I once took a girlfriend to see 'Les Enfants Du Paradis' and she fell asleep after about an hour and zzz'd for about 50mins. When we leaving I asked her what she'd thought of what she's seen of the film. Her reply ... 'it wasn't as good as Lethal Weapon 3' ... it was a short lived relationship

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Nick Dando

The soundtrack was available on CD - but Amazon.co.uk are asking £62 for it! It is available from Amazon.com at $40.

Amazon.com: Solaris (Score): Music: Original Score,Cliff Martinez

It looks to me as though it's been released a couple of times with different covers, the first from 2003 with an image of George Clooney in a corridor with Natascha McElhone's face superimposed (which is what I've got). Then there's a cover with George and Natascha kissing from 2004.

Superb Records EDEL 0146922ERE

:: Superb Records :: CRASH Winner of 3 Academy Awards! ::

Nick

Hanseat

Tarkovski's Solaris is not strictly speaking the "original". Both Tarkovski's and Soderbergh's films are adaptions of the same novel. Of course, Soderbergh knew Tarkovski's version and there are many visual similarities which Soderbergh euphemistically calls a stylistic homage to the cinema of the Seventies. Apart from this, though, Soderbergh actually sees his Solaris as an adapation of the novel. And it was his deliberate choice to shift the focus of the story to the human tragedy by concentrating on Clooney's past and present relationship, sadly missing the whole philosophical point of the novel. In this, again, there are similarities to Tarkovski's version, which Lem never really liked as he felt that Tarkovski had "humanized" the story too much and had neglected the philosophical side (as well as hijacking the story for some very personal observations about his own life and career). As much as he disagreed with Tarkovski's vision, though, Lem held nothing but scorn for Soderbergh's version.

Hanseat

batman

Interesting stuff Hanseat. I have never read the novel but now feel that I should. Did Lem give any specific reasons for disliking Soderbergh's version?

Bats.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Nick Dando

The consensus of the obituary's for Stanislaw Lem were that the only English translation of Solaris is not very good. I've still to read it, after making a start a couple of years ago.

Nick

Carmel

Did anyone ever truly watch a remake and say that was better than the original, too many older films are being remade and botched in my opinion. I never seen or never i suppose will see a remake that was far better than the original, originals fitted their era and remaking them makes them awful. To many like so many are destined for Dvd release straight away and not to many add these remakes to their collections. can anyone ever imagine remaking Gone with the wind or The wizard of oz, no these were classics and i intend to keep them in my mind as just that.

silverwhistle

I agree: different directors and writers bring their own sensibilities (and those of their times) to adapting literary material.

"Trust me, I'm a doctor...!"