Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Seeing City of Angels would not lead me to see the wondeful Wings of Desire, but it sure made me appreciate how wonderful the original was.

That's an interesting example, because there's often a different reason for American filmmakers adapting foreign films. One reason is to bring awareness of the foreign movies to an American audience. I don't really think this works, as City of Angels doesn't even carry the same title, THANK GOD.

I've been mixed about some of the American versions of Japanese horror films. Ju-On kicks The Grudge's ass. But though I may be in the minority, the American The Ring was far more satisfying - and was far scarier for me - than its Japanese predecessor.

Plays get turned into movies, though it's not always done well. Books get adapted. Ballads get adapted into books (Tam-Lin, I'm looking at you, my beloved). I really don't think there's anything wrong with reimagining an original film, adapting it....if there's good reason, a new spin, etc. The fact that it's often done so poorly is too bad, but I don't think all derivative works or adaptations (even a film of a film) has to be absolute crap.

Granted, I understand the reasons for adapting a book into a film - your experimenting with telling a story using a different medium. There is a point to that, whether one likes the adaptation or not. And adapting a film from another film makes less sense. Though I suppose there may be some good scripts out there that were directed badly. More likely the other way around..bad scripts, but an interesting story. So revising the crap script and retelling the same basic story might be a good idea.