The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo-An Unnecessary Remake?

[Atomic Age]

One of the strangest examples I can think of was the first Mad Max film which was dubbed into "American English" because they didn't think that US audiences could understand the Aussie accents. In a way I liked the Golden Era approach which was to concurrently shoot the same film in several languages each with a different cast who spoke that language.

Dracula (Original Version)

[video=youtube;Sqej6t29ygc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqej6t29ygc[/video]

Dracula (Spanish Version)

[video=youtube;TiuQE03YNSE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuQE03YNSE&feature=related[/video]

Interestingly, most critics agree that the Spanish version is far superior to the classic Lugosi film.

Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

I think the best remakes of foreign films, are those that take the basic Prism of the film, but put a local spin on it. For example, I love the British version of the TV show Law and Order, because they made it their own. I think the best film remakes do the same thing.

Doug

 

[Tomasso]

Unfortunately a lot of those whom I encounter who say it does for them have never actually bothered to watch a subtitled film.

They probably know from the various subtitled work they've already been exposed to that they don't want to sit through two hours of it.


A few years ago I attended a film festival which was held in conjunction with the Miami Beach Art Deco Weekend. That years theme was East meets West; Shanghai and Miami Beach. One of the films shown was a 30's Chinese production shot in Shanghai and subtitled. The audience was not forewarned that the film was subtitled. Of the two hundred or so who were seated before the film began, three quarters were gone within ten minutes and there were maybe twenty who stuck it out to the end. I stayed but I admit that I quit reading a third of the way through in order to drink in the beautiful vintage Shanghai street scenes.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Interestingly, most critics agree that the Spanish version is far superior to the classic Lugosi film.

Doug

The difference is readily apparent in the part where Renfield cuts himself. Though I wonder if the actor playing Dracula in the Spanish version modeled his own performance on Lugosi?

 

[Isis]

Personally I don't even think about that I read subtitles. I'm Swedish and the only movies dubbed in Sweden are children's movies, so you get used to read subtitles - and most movies showed in Sweden are American or Bristish. It's a habit, really and if you are used to it, it doesn't distract you. The idea of not watching a movie because it's in another language feels very foreign to me.

I haven't seen The Girld With the Dragon tatoo, but a friend told me she found it quite funny when supposedly Swedish people do thing that you just can't do here. I thought it had been transplanted to be set in USA like Let Me In, but she said not.

 

[filfoster]

I haven't seen The Girld With the Dragon tatoo, but a friend told me she found it quite funny when supposedly Swedish people do thing that you just can't do here. I thought it had been transplanted to be set in USA like Let Me In, but she said not.

OK, I am intrigued. Do you recall any examples she mentioned of these things? Murder and sex are nearly universal, at least anywhere civilized.

 

[Atomic Age]

The difference is readily apparent in the part where Renfield cuts himself. Though I wonder if the actor playing Dracula in the Spanish version modeled his own performance on Lugosi?

I doubt it, unless he had seen Lugosi on Broadway. They were shooting at night, while the English version was shooting in the day time, so I don't now if the Spanish actor ever saw Lugosi's performance before the film came out.

Doug

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

It's possible that he could have been shown some of the dailies of Lugosi to give an idea as to what direction to go.

 

[Isis]

OK, I am intrigued. Do you recall any examples she mentioned of these things? Murder and sex are nearly universal, at least anywhere civilized.

Of course. It was more small things. Like the way you buy cigarettes.

 

[Atomic Age]

It's possible that he could have been shown some of the dailies of Lugosi to give an idea as to what direction to go.

Its possible, but again I have my doubts. The Spanish language version was really considered by Universal to be a throwaway, so they could make some money in the Spanish market. Its one of the reasons that some consider the Spanish film to be a better film. They were being ignored by Universal, and could do whatever they wanted. As a result they really didn't follow the main production that closely.

The only reason a whole second movie was made, was because they hadn't figured out a way of dubbing dialog yet for a sound film.

Doug

 

[flat-top]

I just came back from seeing the American version, and unnecessary or not, I loved it. And now I'm also in love with Rooney Mara.

 

[Tomasso]

And now I'm also in love with Rooney Mara.

Yeah, she's hard to resist especially considering her love of NFL football. Both her great grandfathers having been founders of NFL teams. Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Mara (New York Giants) makers her football royalty.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

If the first Swedish film had been the only Larsson adaptation then I would be strongly in the "don't need an English version" camp. I didn't notice the subtitles at all after the first few minutes and my college-age son concurred that it wasn't a distraction. He did crack up when I leaned over as the Swedish credits were rolling and said "a moose bit my sister once".

However, I felt that the subsequent Swedish versions of Larsson's trilogy were sub-par - different director and woefully inadequate budgets. The production values were along the lines of a TV movie-of-the-week. SO, if getting top-notch interpretations of GWPWF and GWKTHN means we have to have English language versions then so be it.

 

[filfoster]

Just to kick the last bit of stuffing out of this, we did watch the American/English language version Saturday evening. I'm sorry. I think the Swedish version told the story better, especially the more developed relationship between Ms. Salandar and her uh, legal guardian. The family relationships were a bit easier to follow in the English version and the bad guy was much better, but the ending seemed very different to me than the Swedish version. No Australia? Did Lisbeth keep the $ or not?

 

[John in Covina]

I'd say that there are some people that have a hard time with subtitles. They may feel that concentration on reading the dialog makes it so they can't concentrate on the action or the visual interplay as well. I know people that won't watch B&W films willingly. So there is some personal taste involved as opposed to simple inability to handle the reading chore as well as the watching part.

 

[frussell]

I watched the American version last week, prepared not to like it because I enjoyed the original version very much. I was pleasantly surprised, the extra blockbuster budget made a difference, and, like Salty, I'm hoping for better-done remakes of the next two installments than the originals. My only complaint was that for me, Rooney Mara was adequate, but lacked the "swagger" or palpable attitude that Noomi Rapace gave off. With the original, it was sometimes hard to like her character, even when you felt sorry for her. Mara seemed more sympathetic throughout, which took away a little of the edge from the story, just from my view. Definitely not a bad remake, but I'd still recommend seeing both. Frank

 

[J.W.]

So, just to add the German perspective: Over here, almost ALL movies from foreign countries are dubbed. The only exceptions are some movies on one of our cultural TV-stations, where they show subtitled originals, but these are French for the most part. There is no question about subtitling or dubbing in Germany, because everything they show on TV where the language is not German, is dubbed. And believe me: I love DVDs for the possibility of watching a movie in English! The only movie I like better in the dubbed than in the original version is Monty Python's "Life of Brian". Some of the jokes are much better in German, than in English. "Rübennase" is simply funnier than "große Nase".
Regarding books: I tried reading Tolkien's "Hobbit" and LOTR in German and after half a page, I decided that the translations sucked. That was almost 20 years ago and since then, I've read the Hobbit and LOTR more than 15 times, because the beauty of the original prose is just so fine. And so far, never watched the films.

 

[BigFitz]

So, just to add the German perspective: Over here, almost ALL movies from foreign countries are dubbed. The only exceptions are some movies on one of our cultural TV-stations, where they show subtitled originals, but these are French for the most part. There is no question about subtitling or dubbing in Germany, because everything they show on TV where the language is not German, is dubbed. And believe me: I love DVDs for the possibility of watching a movie in English! The only movie I like better in the dubbed than in the original version is Monty Python's "Life of Brian". Some of the jokes are much better in German, than in English. "Rübennase" is simply funnier than "große Nase".
Regarding books: I tried reading Tolkien's "Hobbit" and LOTR in German and after half a page, I decided that the translations sucked. That was almost 20 years ago and since then, I've read the Hobbit and LOTR more than 15 times, because the beauty of the original prose is just so fine. And so far, never watched the films.

J.W., my opinion is don't watch the LOTR movies. They were well made but I wish I would never have seen them. The books are so much better and now when I read them, the da#n movies pop into my head.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I saw the English version of this film last night and thought this thing was a steaming pile of over-rated nihilistic crap. The pacing was all over the map, the actors mumbled all the important lines, none of the characters were likeable, most of the characters were stereotypes, the story was predictable and had been done a million times before but still managed to be disjointed, and worst of all for me the director didn't know when less is more. I also, incidently, have no time for serial murderer films (or television shows) since it's just a vile topic to begin with (how soon before we have a child molester as the hero of a television series?). I honestly don't care if the books or Swedish films were better!

I was happy to see real snow being used in some outdoor scenes, however. I wonder how they arranged that?

 

[ButteMT61]

I saw the English version of this film last night and thought this thing was a steaming pile of over-rated nihilistic crap. The pacing was all over the map, the actors mumbled all the important lines, none of the characters were likeable, most of the characters were stereotypes, the story was predictable and had been done a million times before but still managed to be disjointed, and worst of all for me the director didn't know when less is more. I also, incidently, have no time for serial murderer films (or television shows) since it's just a vile topic to begin with (how soon before we have a child molester as the hero of a television series?). I honestly don't care if the books or Swedish films were better!I was happy to see real snow being used in some outdoor scenes, however. I wonder how they arranged that?

I'd wager they filmed when it was cold... lol