We always see remakes, but how many of you have seen remakes of your own films?
Obviously, I have already filmed it once, but for various reasons, I want to shoot it again, the same subject matter, re-narration, and self-repetition, which is also a very disturbing operation.
For example, I recently heard that Bill August was going to remake his old work "Pell the Conqueror", and I thought to myself, right? That classic was a classic, winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the Palme d'Or at Cannes that year. Later, it was clarified that this drama version of "Pell the Conqueror" should be a sequel, telling a new story.
The phenomenon of directors remaking their old films is probably the following situations, expanding short films into long films; transnational localization transplantation; or the transformation of media, such as black and white films becoming color films, movies becoming TV series, and so on.
Recently, there have been rumors that Wu Yusen will remake the American version of "Blood Double Male". In this case, in addition to simple economic reasons, directors also have the opportunity to break through their previous ideas and give a chance to correct. Or because of experience, it will make them have a new understanding of creation, so that they believe that new opportunities and investments will make better results.
The most classic case of remaking himself is Michael Mann's "The Line of Fire" (1995), yes, that is also a remake of itself.
This is a remake of his old film The Great Los Angeles (1989). The crime film that Michael Mann had envisioned was much more complex and intricate. Like the core story of The Line of Fire, Los Angeles strips away minor characters and sub-plots, as well as the various human interactions that revolve around a major showdown between a cop and a criminal.
"The Great Los Angeles Robbery" & "The Line of Fire"
Later, after adding these elaborate details, the characters' inner worlds were enriched, and some of the lines were basically copied directly from "The Great Robbery of Los Angeles", at least in line with the spirit of the basic lines and monologues. Some scenes are also very similar, even if they are filmed differently, but are obviously upgraded.
Comparing the two films, you can see how Mann distilled the concepts of the old version from the new version, and turned the story into something more skillful through some key adjustments, which is the meaning of the remake.
A more recent example is Huang Xinyao's short film "Big Buddha" (2014) becoming a feature film "Big Buddha Plus" (2017).
Although short films do not have as much market as feature films, they can often see novelty and can see the possibility of becoming feature films. Producer Zhong Menghong saw the potential of the short film "Big Buddha", coupled with government assistance funds, "Big Buddha Plus" was fully upgraded in technology.
The Big Buddha
Huang Xinyao had never written a feature film script before, and he didn't even understand what a three-act play was, and with the help of Zhong Menghong, he spent nearly two years revising the script, which led to the current "Big Buddha Plus".
Feature films retain some of the concepts of short films, including the fact that the dashcam is color and the setting of short films, and even retains the main actors when making feature films, which is relatively rarely done. After all, when most directors do a remake, they will change all the actors.
The Great Buddha Plus
Remakes of his own classics also include Leo McCarley's remake of The Love Affair (1939) of The Golden Jade League (1957). It feels like the director's ultimate vision for a very personal story.
"Love Affair" & "Golden Jade League"
Hitchcock's two editions of The Catch (1934/1956) were 20 years apart and had substantial technological progress.
The 1930s version has its own characteristics of traditional British comedy, full of witty humor, and before the plot officially unfolds, this kind of banter is accompanied by a kind of sophistication of the detective comedy The Thin Man (1934). There is also a compelling "trump card" in the old version, and that is the performance of the acting school Peter Lohr, which is creepy and continues the way he performed in M is the Murderer (1931).
The 50s version was replaced with color, and Morocco offers a more interesting backdrop than a Swiss family vacation. There are also minor adjustments to the gender of the child, who hears the secret of the dying, who is the target of the assassination plan, etc., Hitchcock is more inclined to create suspense, the scheduling of the scene to attract the audience.
Two editions of Catcher
Speaking of the director's remake of his old work, I think of Michael Haneke's remarks about the remake of Fun Games (1997/2007): "If you are a follower of 'The Teapot in Ozu's Films', you will know my interest in indoor (or outdoor) shots, and Fun Game 07 is not just a shot-by-shot remake, but also as similar as possible according to the original layout and proportions. ”
Comparison of the new (right) and old (left) versions of Fun Games
The American version of "Fun Game" is the original remake of the German version, almost every frame is copied, and Van Sant's remake of "Horror" is the same.
The change of medium can also make a different effect, and Tim Burton's Frankenstein Dog (1984/2012) not only changed from a short film to a feature film, but also replaced a live-action film with 3D stop-motion animation, which can try a technological breakthrough.
Old Version of Frankenstein Dog
Frankenstein Dog (New Edition)
When it comes to remaking his own director, I have to mention Howard Hawkes.
His original was the then-neuro-comedy Fireball (1941), written by Charles Bractor and Billy Wilder. It tells the love entanglement between a playful nightclub singer and a die-hard professor.
Fireball
The later remake of "Ecstasy of Erotics" (1948) became a jazz version, according to the gossip tabloids, Hawkes remade the film just for the sake of remuneration, the script was almost the same, but a long cut to make way for jazz.
The male lead was replaced by Gary Cooper, a serious writer in "Fireball", to Danny Kaye, who can sing and dance, in addition to performances by Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton and other jazz giants.
Since the pearl is already in front, the new version subtracts on the main plot of the original version, and the music part is added. So the later remake version was pleasing to the ear, and the idea of finally using music to defeat the enemy was reasonable and very interesting.
"Enchanted Souls"
Around the last decade of Howard Hawkes' career, he directed three Westerns with roughly the same plot: 1959's "Dragon Slayer," 1966's Dragon and Tiger League, and 1970's "The Thief."
The male protagonists of the three films are john Wayne, who is roughly a sheriff guarding his police station against a group of outlaws. Although it is not a remake in the strict sense, the main plot is completely consistent.
"The Dragon Slayer" is undoubtedly one of the best of the three, undisputed American Western masterpieces.
And "Dragon Tiger League" is not a masterpiece, but it is not bad, the rhythm is much worse, some scenes are more like improvisation, hawks seems to have a hard time deciding whether this is a remake or a spoof of "Red Guts Slayer".
"The King of Thieves" is still a little different, the first half is introduced with the train robbery, and the final ending has some changes. It can be seen that many times, the remake is the way to change the soup without changing the medicine.
"Red Guts Slayer"
Dragon and Tiger Alliance
The Thief King
Instead, John Ford, another Western master, chose to remake a lesser-known film. In 1934, his comedy Judge Priest was set in Kentucky in 1905 and told the story of the election battle between judges and Yankees prosecutors. Despite the judge's popularity, his generosity and sense of justice could cost him the election. He had to confront an angry mob that accused a black man of committing a heinous crime.
This is indeed a subject that John Ford excels at, and his typical themes are civilization, law, and community. Judge Priest was an eccentric man, but he was a good man with a strong endurance and a sense of justice.
The reason for most directors to reshoot is usually to explore new themes in the same narrative in a new way, or simply to increase the budget to make a more refined film, but in Ford's case, the reason is quite special. He had planned to design a scene in Judge Priest preventing townspeople from lynching a black man, but the Hayes Code did not allow it at the time.
"Sunshine"
However, this scene is now included in the 1953 "Sunshine". The film was one of Ford's lesser-known films, but was supported by many, including critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who believed that almost all of Ford's themes reached their peak in the film, and even John Ford himself made it one of his favorite films.
So, who is the best director in the field of Chinese films to self-remake? Of course, Zhang Che, he also likes to remake his old films, especially in the eighties and nineties, the number is very large, very amazing.
During the Shaw period, his New One-Armed Knife (1971) borrowed the idea of One-Armed Knife (1967), but not a remake, and there was a sequel to The One-Armed Knife King (1969).
After leaving Shaw, he began the road of "fried cold rice", "Ring" (1983) is a remake of "Boxing" (1971), all of which are the stories of going to Thailand to find relatives and fight boxing, but one is looking for a father and the other is looking for a mother, the former and Di Jiang's brotherhood can be seen, and the latter several royal male stars are cameos.
Boxing
"The Ring"
The phenomenon of remaking his old films has intensified after Zhang Che went north, and like Zhang Xinyan, he also used a group of mainland martial arts athletes as actors, and most of the anti-Japanese films based on the Republic of China were filmed, which can be applied to the story structure of his original Shaw period and turned over. In the absence of the costumes and art required for costume films, he had to put the story in the background of the Republic of China, or simply make it into the texture of a stage play.
"Xi'an Killing" (1987) is to put the main line of unjust cases in "Five Poisons" (1978) to the Republic of China, and "Jianghu Raiders" (1990) was processed into the stage drama texture of "The Gate of Life and Death" (1979), which was very rough, but it spooked the attention of mainland audiences who had not seen much of the world at that time. The title of this film in Hong Kong was changed to "Jianghu Fit Man", and Hong Kong audiences must have felt deceived.
The Five Poisons
"Xi'an Killing"
Zhang Che should be very satisfied with the story of "Five Poisons", and he personally has repeatedly hoped that it can be remade again.
"The Gate of Life and Death"
"Stranger Things"
During his time in Taiwan, Zhang Che liked to find inspiration from old films, and his "Revenge of the Happy Gods" (1983) began with the idea of "Revenge" (1980). It was not until he went north that he was adapted into "WuSheng Decision" (1988) three times, and in the 1990s, he planned to reshoot it four times, but this version was finally directed by Zhuang Yinjian, who was made into "Revenge" (1993), starring Zhang Fengyi and Liu Ximing.
"Revenge of the Gods"
Revenge
"WuSheng Decision"
In his later years, Zhang Che also had a plan, that is, to cooperate with Andy Lau to remake "Revenge", which was named "Revenge 2000 Change of Face". This is also due to the fact that Andy Lau learned the art from Mr. Peng Denghuai, the "Master of Sichuan Drama Face Change", in 2000 and learned the art of face change. Zhang Che had the idea of reshooting again, planning to change the background of the story from Peking Opera to Sichuan Opera, with the theme of changing faces, but later due to certain conditions that could not be cooperated, there was no further action. After all, without Master Peng's consent, Andy Lau cannot perform, which is also the rule. Through these several remake plans, it can be seen that Zhang Che's most memorable story is "Revenge".
His Journey to the West (1990) was adapted from The Red Child (1975). The original version uses a lot of opera elements from the styling, soundtrack, costumes and actions, and there is no lack of thunder points. What is difficult for the audience to accept is that after the story is told, two flat dramas "Golden Leopard" and "Boundary Card Pass" are directly released, which have no half-cent relationship with the previous plot.
Fifteen years later, "Westbound Ping Demon" is known as a "mythical stunt film" (now look, it should be an "acrobatic film"), the whole play runs through a variety of fights and fireworks, the combination of earth and ocean, the deepest impression is the scene of Nezha stepping on the ignition skates (representing the hot wheel). Zhang Che also really has a special love for the review drama "Golden Leopard", and filmed another paragraph in "Westbound Ping Demon".
Both versions have very thunderous character shapes, and the mop monster and the pumpkin monster are very copycat shapes.
"Red Child"
"Westward Journey to Ping Demon"
Later, Zhang Che also returned to Taiwan to remake the TV series "Thorn Horse" (1992), the previous "Thorn Horse" (1973) was a classic film of the Shaw period, and later Chen Kexin's "Letter of Submission" was also adapted from this historical event.
Thorn Horse
The drama version of "Thorn Horse"
"Divine Powers" (1993) is a remake of "Divine Powers and Little Overlords" (1983), which was originally born from the plot of "Sun Ce beheaded by Yoshi" in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", combined with the Japanese ninjutsu in the previous year's work "Five Hidden Ninjutsu" (1982). The plot of "Divine Power" is also similar, but the plot, action and shooting are not innovative, but regressive.
Magic and the Little Bully
"Magic"
Zhang Che also has several unformed remake plans, he once announced that he would remake his directorial debut "Alishan Storm" (1950) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the film, hoping that all the friends in the circle he knew could participate in the film. However, this plan later fell, but in order to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the master's entry, his group of disciples specially concocted the movie "Righteous Courage and Courage" (1990) as a gift to the teacher.
There are still a few cases where remakes surpass old films, unless old films are not classics. The purpose is different, the motivation is different, and the result will certainly be different. I've made a list of some directors I can think of to remake their old films, and you're welcome to add them (none of the ones that appeared above are listed):
Silent version of The Ten Commandments by Cissi Dimir (1923) and audio (1956)
Zhang Ishikawa's silent and audio version of "Empty Gulan" (1925/1934)
Liu Beiqian's silent version of Kiss Me Again (1925) and the audio version of The Way of Husband and Wife (1941)
Abel Guns' silent version of Napoleon (1927) and the audio version of Napoleon in Austerlitz (1960)
Ozu's silent film I was born, but... (1932) and the color sound film Good Morning (1959)
Frank Capra's The Lady of the Day (1933) and The Trick (1961)
Ozu's black-and-white film The Tale of Floating Grass (1934) and color film Floating Grass (1959)
Wu Yonggang's silent film The Goddess (1934) and the sound film Rouge Tears (1938)
William Hui's Threesome (1936) and The Double Sisterhood (1961)
Raoul Walsh's film noir Skyscrapers (1941) and the Westerns Tiger Thief Wild Flowers (1949)
Zhu Shilin's mainland version of "Candle Night in the Cave House" (1942) and the Hong Kong version of "The First Night of Marriage" (1956)
Two editions of Hiroshi Inagaki's A Life That Cannot Be Sent (1943/1958)
Ozu's black-and-white film Late Spring (1949) and color film Autumn SunWa (1960)
Ichikawa Kun's black-and-white film Harp of Burma (1956) and color film of the same name (1985)
Vadim's French version of God Created Woman (1956) and the American version of Modern Extravagant Woman (1988)
Nakahira Yasushi's Japanese version of The Fruit of Madness (1956) and the Hong Kong version of Wild Love Poems (1968)
Three editions of Kim Ki-yong's "The Next Girl" (1960/1970/1982), the last two versions are called "Fire Girl"
Takeshi Tetsuji's black-and-white film Daydream (1964) and color film of the same name (1981),
Li Hanxiang's Fengyue film "Wind Moon Qitan" (1972) and the third-grade film "Bamboo Lady" (1991)
Chu Yuan's "Ai Nu" (1972) and "New Biography of Ai Nu" (1984),
Li Hanxiang's Fengyue film "Golden Bottle Double Yan" (1974) and the third-grade film "Golden Bottle Wind Moon" (1991)
Two editions of Ichikawa Kun's Inuyasha Family (1976/2006)
Two editions of Obayashi's Transfer Students (1982/2007)
Blake Edwards' film version of Hermaphrodites (1982) and stage version (1995)
Dick Master's Dutch version of The Killing Elevator (1983) and the American version of the film of the same name (2001)
Xu Ke's Shushan: The New Shushan Swordsman (1983) and The Legend of Shushan (2001)
Francis Wilber's French version of "Brothers and Sisters" (1986) and the American version of "Two Big, One Little, Three Prisoners" (1989)
Sluyder's Dutch version of Mysterious Disappearance (1988) and the American version of the film of the same name (1993)
Wu Yusen's film version of "Across the Sea" (1991) and the TV film version of "The Dragon in the Rivers and Lakes" (1996) and TV series (1996-1998)
Rodriguez's Mexican version of Killer Lament (1992) and the American version of The Killing Trilogy (1995),
Chen Huiyi's film version of "The Heroic Nature of Water Margin" (1993) and the drama version of "A Branch of a Flower Monk" (1997)
Poire's French version of The Sharp Turn in Time (1993) and the American version of The Visitor to Time (2001)
Wu Mianqin's film version of The Six-Fingered Piano Demon (1994) and drama version (2003)
Bonédale's Danish version of See the Night (1994) and the American version of See Who's Screaming (1997)
Hideo Nakata's Japanese version of Midnight Bells: Sadako (1999) and the U.S. version (2005)
The Pang Brothers' Thai version of Silent Fire (2000) and the American version of Bangkok Killer (2008)
Takashi Shimizu's Japanese version of The Grudge (2002) and the American version (2004)
Falip Maitreya's French version of Butterfly (2002) and China (2013)
Takashi Shimizu's Japanese version of "Grudge 2" (2003) and the American version (2006)
Jan Lauras' Philippine Version of Echo (2004) and The American Version of Deadly Echo (2008)
Babruani's French version of The Million Kills Game (2006) and the American version of Thirteen (2010)
The Belgian version of The Attic (2008) and the American version (2014) by Eric van Løjd
Muschetti's short feature film version of Mama (2008/2013)
Ahn Sang-hoon's Japanese version of Blind Witness (2011) and China's I Am a Witness (2015)
Sandberg's short feature film version of After the Lights Off (2013/2016)
Ken Scott's Canadian version of Star Daddy (2013) and the American version of Mr. Sender (2013)
Geng Jun's short film "Easy + Pleasant" (2013) and the feature film "Hammer and Sickle All Rest" (2017)