Gus van Sant is a good director in several films, but why he has to go in for remakes or rehashes is beyond me - especially talking about this masterpiece by Hitchcock. The original work should be left untouched, especially when it is superb in its making.
Do not get me wrong: I am not one of those penchants for upholding Hollywood's 30s, 40, 50s "great" (sic) days of film-making. All those Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Rita Hayworth, Randolph Scott, Rene Dunne, Cedric Hardwicke, James Stewart, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Walter Pigeon, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra (yuck and double yuck), Tony Curtis, Brian Aherne, James Cagney..........and many more of the same ilk, have me retching and reaching for the "off" switch or button immediately.
"Vanilla Sky" is a recent example of a terrible remake-rehash of an originally good film. "Gone with the Wind" should have gone with the last hurricane, and "Casablanca" would have been nothing if the film had used the real Arabic name of 'ad-dâru l-baydâ' in Maghrabi or Addâru Lbaydâ in Berber..............
I mean, can you imagine anyone writing their own version of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot"? Could anyone stand any of Shakespeare transposed into modern grunge-rap? Could anyone stomache Springsteen doing his version of "Ball and Chain"? Is it possible to imagine Gunther Grass' "Hundejahre" converted into a humorous farce? Could you take Vaughan-Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" played in flamenco.........?
I could go on, but I do not wish to bore anyone.
Remakes and other rehabilitations at best are only rehashes, and at worst sickening.
Do not get me wrong: I am not one of those penchants for upholding Hollywood's 30s, 40, 50s "great" (sic) days of film-making. All those Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Rita Hayworth, Randolph Scott, Rene Dunne, Cedric Hardwicke, James Stewart, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Walter Pigeon, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra (yuck and double yuck), Tony Curtis, Brian Aherne, James Cagney..........and many more of the same ilk, have me retching and reaching for the "off" switch or button immediately.
"Vanilla Sky" is a recent example of a terrible remake-rehash of an originally good film. "Gone with the Wind" should have gone with the last hurricane, and "Casablanca" would have been nothing if the film had used the real Arabic name of 'ad-dâru l-baydâ' in Maghrabi or Addâru Lbaydâ in Berber..............
I mean, can you imagine anyone writing their own version of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot"? Could anyone stand any of Shakespeare transposed into modern grunge-rap? Could anyone stomache Springsteen doing his version of "Ball and Chain"? Is it possible to imagine Gunther Grass' "Hundejahre" converted into a humorous farce? Could you take Vaughan-Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" played in flamenco.........?
I could go on, but I do not wish to bore anyone.
Remakes and other rehabilitations at best are only rehashes, and at worst sickening.