*Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2021
For those who don't know The Guilty (2021) is a remake of an original Danish film directed by Gustav Möller called The Guilty (2018) "Original Title is Den Skyldige". I watched the original danish film first and then the remake and writing this review without comparing them to each other is impossible. The remake is "EXACTLY" like the original. No changes occurred in the story or the script which is very great because I feel like adding new things to that story would've ruined this remake. I really enjoyed the original and I gave the original the same rating as this one (8/10) because they both are the exact same so it doesn't make sense if i gave one a higher rating than the other. I was concerned about that remake but had a little bit of hope that it would be good just because I imagined Jake Gyllenhaal in that role and after watching it, I knew that I was right about that.
The problem with watching a "remake" of any film is 2 things: 1- You'd know everything that's about to happen because you have already watched the same story before 2- If you watch the original first and then the remake you'd think that the remake is boring. And if you watch the remake first and then the original you'd think that the original is boring which is "not fair".
However, one thing that I saw that was unique and different from the original is Jake Gyllenhaal's performance that never disappoints. The film is a "one location" type of film so the audience is there with the actor the entire time and there's nowhere else to go to. So the camera is mainly focusing on Jake's face the entire 1h 30m. Jake's portrait of the struggling 911 police officer call operator Joe Bayler, (who is dealing with many issues like family issues, mental illnesses, shortness of breath, and mainly the emergency phone call from the kidnapped woman) was accurate. He was able to deliver to the audience the struggles and obstacles that Joe Bayler is facing and what he feels inside of him by using his face & voice only. Also Jake's ability to shift from an "angry" police officer to an "emotional" police officer to a "tired/struggling" a police officer was unreal and this is what's special about Jake Gyllenhaal because not so many actors can do the. And he kind of played a similar role before and that is detective Loky from Prisoner (2013) except in this film, Jake is by himself.
The directing was great as well. Loved how the camera movements are sometimes trying to make you feel somehow trapped like Jake's character Joe Bayler. The cinematography & colors were great as well and they were reflecting Joe's situation. Also, the music score was a bit absent in the original film but had an important role in this remake of reflecting Joe's crazy situation.
THE REAL QUESTION IS WHICH ONE IS BETTER, THE ORIGINAL OR THE REMAKE?
In my opinion, both are good because like I mentioned above, both are the exact same.
My rating is 8/10 Watched: AT HOME.
For those who don't know The Guilty (2021) is a remake of an original Danish film directed by Gustav Möller called The Guilty (2018) "Original Title is Den Skyldige". I watched the original danish film first and then the remake and writing this review without comparing them to each other is impossible. The remake is "EXACTLY" like the original. No changes occurred in the story or the script which is very great because I feel like adding new things to that story would've ruined this remake. I really enjoyed the original and I gave the original the same rating as this one (8/10) because they both are the exact same so it doesn't make sense if i gave one a higher rating than the other. I was concerned about that remake but had a little bit of hope that it would be good just because I imagined Jake Gyllenhaal in that role and after watching it, I knew that I was right about that.
The problem with watching a "remake" of any film is 2 things: 1- You'd know everything that's about to happen because you have already watched the same story before 2- If you watch the original first and then the remake you'd think that the remake is boring. And if you watch the remake first and then the original you'd think that the original is boring which is "not fair".
However, one thing that I saw that was unique and different from the original is Jake Gyllenhaal's performance that never disappoints. The film is a "one location" type of film so the audience is there with the actor the entire time and there's nowhere else to go to. So the camera is mainly focusing on Jake's face the entire 1h 30m. Jake's portrait of the struggling 911 police officer call operator Joe Bayler, (who is dealing with many issues like family issues, mental illnesses, shortness of breath, and mainly the emergency phone call from the kidnapped woman) was accurate. He was able to deliver to the audience the struggles and obstacles that Joe Bayler is facing and what he feels inside of him by using his face & voice only. Also Jake's ability to shift from an "angry" police officer to an "emotional" police officer to a "tired/struggling" a police officer was unreal and this is what's special about Jake Gyllenhaal because not so many actors can do the. And he kind of played a similar role before and that is detective Loky from Prisoner (2013) except in this film, Jake is by himself.
The directing was great as well. Loved how the camera movements are sometimes trying to make you feel somehow trapped like Jake's character Joe Bayler. The cinematography & colors were great as well and they were reflecting Joe's situation. Also, the music score was a bit absent in the original film but had an important role in this remake of reflecting Joe's crazy situation.
THE REAL QUESTION IS WHICH ONE IS BETTER, THE ORIGINAL OR THE REMAKE?
In my opinion, both are good because like I mentioned above, both are the exact same.
My rating is 8/10 Watched: AT HOME.