Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about film directors.
In a way this follows on from last month's post but also flips it on its head as, instead of the issue being those with questionable judgment exerting their influence over the life and works of others, this time I was contemplating those with unlimited (for which one might read excessive) self-image exerting their influence of the work and achievements of others. To put it bluntly, I was considering remakes - specifically when a renowned director takes it upon themselves to demonstrate their consummate skill by remaking a classic and often much loved piece.
To me, this has never made sense for 2 reasons:
1) If it is a classic and/or much loved, why does it need to be remade? Clearly the original filmmaker got it right first time. If the new director loves it so much maybe they could organise its re-release to share this love with others rather than implying they think they can do better.
2) Surely a better 'test' of the director's film-making skill would be to take a film that was an acknowledged flop and turn that into a much loved classic. By remaking a bad film into something that is good that has to be undeniable proof that they are as good as they clearly believe themselves to be.
Possible candidates include: John Carter, Waterworld, Mars Needs Moms
It could theoretically be the proposed case that remakes are made because Hollywood is 'out of ideas'. Although I personally believe to that it is more accurate that Hollywood doesn't want to take a risk on new ideas. In which case it is falling foul of my previous observations (and post) of those in a position of power/judgement - in this instance, film producers - possibly obstructing the creation of something wonderful through their own potentially misguided/misplaced judgement.
Overall, I firmly believe classics should be allowed to be just that and instead new ideas (or flops) should be given the chance to become that. After all, the following classics were big risks for their makers:
- Snow White: The first ever feature length cartoon - a major risk for Disney but the start of his empire
- Iron Man: A risky first movie which then launched a franchise
- Avatar: A CGI-heavy film could have been viewed as too risky
- Batman: Tim Burton took a camp 60s TV series and turned it into a gritty, compelling classic
- Die Hard: The star of this action flick was not the muscle-bound hero that might have been expected
- Titanic: A film with a run time of over 3 hours wins the most Oscars ever
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Making a film (which spawned a franchise) out of a fairground ride? Sounds a bit risky
- Get Out: Giving a comedian the chance to direct a horror film? That worked
