Spoiler Alert...America is still Guilty

 Spoiler Alert…America is still Guilty

The precedent was set decades ago, so this is nothing new. I will cite a few of the more egregious examples.

To wit:

In Order of Disappearance (2014) Norway vs. Cold Pursuit (2019)

Let the Right One In (2008) Sweden vs. Let Me In (2010)

Force Majeure (2014) Sweden vs. Downhill (2020)

Ringu (1998) Japan vs. The Ring (2002)

La Femme Nikita (1990) France vs. Point of No Return (1993)

The Vanishing (1988) the Netherlands/France vs. The Vanishing (1993)

If you’ve seen any of these foreign films and their American counterparts, you know where I’m headed with this. Whenever you see an American remake of a foreign movie, you can bet money that the Americans will screw it up in some way and give you an inferior product. I’m not suggesting all of the American versions are trash. Some of them are fine, but they are never (in my viewings of at least two dozen of these circumstances) as good as the original/foreign version. 

Why is this? Well, I’m not sure, but I do have some ideas. Short answer being that “we” meaning American filmmakers/studios see something that “we” didn’t make that was creative and compelling and original. “We” then make an “American” version of that film, many times with a well known, box office proven, money making star. This rarely, if ever, works. 

I really don’t have a problem with the remakes in general. I get it. “We” realize that a majority of the American audience doesn’t want to read a movie, and they prefer movies with stars in them. I get that. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. 

The problem I have is when “we” totally change the very things that made the original such a great film in the first place. There are times I’ll be watching a foreign film and I find myself thinking of how long it’ll be before “we” remake it and how “we” will change it to ruin it. I guess there are themes that American audiences just can’t handle, which surprises me. 

This segment is titled Spoiler Alert and it WILL contain some spoilers, but you will be warned whenever that’s about to happen. For example, I’m about to give a quick rundown of the 12 movies listed above and there will be NO SPOILERS. Overall plot will be laid out, but I won’t give you any details that would spoil a future viewing of any of these films foreign or domestic.

Let’s begin:

In Order of Disappearance (2014) Norway vs. Cold Pursuit (2019)

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This is the story of a snowplow driver who is out for revenge when his son is murdered by drug dealers. Revenge movies are excellent, especially when the “avenger” is a normal, everyday person. Stellan Skarsgard is the avenger in the original, and he does a wonderful job. You are definitely rooting for him as he carries out his work. 

Five years later we get the Americanized version and we get Liam Neeson as the revenge seeking snow plow driving dad. Right off the bat, bad choice. I love Liam, but this dad is supposed to be an everyday, normal dad who drives a snowplow. Have you seen Liam Neeson?! He’s gigantic. He’s not a normal anything. Cold Pursuit wasn’t bad, but it goes into the category of “No Need to Be Made.” Point: Norway. 

Let the Right One In (2008) Sweden vs. Let Me In (2010)

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Leave it to Sweden to give us a tender drama about a bullied outcast who finds his first love in a beautiful, but odd new neighbor. She also just happens to be a vampire. 

Another foreign revenge film that was Americanized two years later. Again, the American version wasn’t bad. It features a young Kodi Smit-McPhee who was recently nominated for an Oscar for his performance in The Power of the Dog. Chloe Grace Moretz plays the neighbor, and Richard Jenkins is also in a strong cast. 

Once again, the original gets a nod. Point: Sweden

Force Majeure (2014) Sweden vs. Downhill (2020)

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When I first saw Force Majeure I couldn’t stop talking about it. The opening sequence was so mind blowing I couldn’t wait to tell people about it. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

A family of four is on a ski vacation at a resort. They’re having lunch on an outdoor veranda when a cannon fires and causes a controlled avalanche. I didn’t know much about controlled avalanches, so I did some research. Very cool!

In any event, as the onrushing wave of snow approaches at a rapid rate, people begin to wonder if it is going to hit the veranda and cause severe damage.

It’s at this moment when the father gets up and runs away to safety. He abandons his wife. He abandons his children. He saves himself.

And then the avalanche stops short. Everyone is safe. There is no damage to people or property.

The dad returns to the table, and everyone knows what he did.

AND THAT’S THE OPENING!

It’s a black comedy that only the Swedes could do justice to. That statement was proven when Downhill was made six years later. Not even close here. Point: Sweden

Ringu (1998) Japan vs. The Ring (2002)

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This one was pretty cut and dried for me. It’s simple due to the genre. Horror movies should be scary. The Japanese version was very scary, the American version wasn’t scary at all. Point: Japan

La Femme Nikita (1990) France vs. Point of No Return (1993)

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I’m a big fan of La Femme Nikita. Wonderful premise of a convicted felon junkie who is captured and converted into a top secret spy/assassin. Anne Parillaud is amazing as Nikita and director Luc Besson does an admirable job giving her character some depth. 

Three years later we get Bridget Fonda as “Maggie” and it’s just not the same. Fonda is overmatched. Point: France

The Vanishing (1988) the Netherlands/France vs. The Vanishing (1993)

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This is the one that aggravates me the most. The original version of The Vanishing features one of the best endings in film history. That’s all I’ll say. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Five years after its release the same director is at the helm for the American version that features a cast of actors I like. The problem is the ending. That ending that I referred to as one of the best in film history? They changed it. They totally changed it. I was gobsmacked.

Double Points: the Netherlands & France

HERE COME THE SPOILER ALERTS!

The following will give away plot points for both versions of The Guilty. Both are actually worth seeing, but the Danish version is better. No spoilers there! Feel free to watch first and come back later for the closing. 

The Guilty (2018) Denmark vs. The Guilty (2021)

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I hadn’t heard of the Danish version until I saw a trailer for the Americanization of it. I like Jake Gyllenhaal and I like director Antoine Fuqua, so I decided to watch it. Pre-viewing research unearthed the Danish original, so I watched them back to back. 

Some, but not all, of the matchups listed above were done in one sitting. If you’d like to test my views on those movies, I highly recommend screening them back to back. Always screen the original first. That’s only fair.

The Guilty is about a police officer who is on suspension due to a suspicious shooting in which he was involved. Part of the suspension is logging duty on the Emergency Services hotline.

The American version is pretty much a carbon copy of the original. Much of the dialogue is word for word and it’s very loyal to the Danish version. Fuqua also does a good job matching the tension and suspense. 

The movie revolves around a call from a woman in distress. She is a passenger in a car being driven by her abductor. The driver thinks she is speaking with her daughter instead of the Emergency Services officer. (112 in Denmark/911 in America).

The protagonist dispatcher is obviously under a tremendous amount of pressure with his hearing scheduled for the next day. It’s also heavily suggested that the shooting was not “clean,” and that his partner is prepared to lie on the stand to clear him. 

For some reason, the American version also throws in the old “Marriage on the rocks” trope to pile on the emotions. It is not needed. Not at all. No reason for its addition, and it actually clutters things up.

The woman on the line continues to mention her children at home, and it is revealed that the person driving the car is her estranged husband. 

The dispatcher talks to the daughter who is still at home. He asks her to check on her baby brother and tells her the police are on their way.

When the police arrive, they tell the dispatcher that the baby was dead. Someone had cut the baby with a knife. We obviously think the father did this.

In a plot twist that gave me chills, the mother tells the dispatcher that, “The baby stopped crying because I took out the snakes. The snakes were in his belly, and I took them out.” Oh. My. God! This is a game changer. Turns out that the mom has a history of mental illness and that the husband was trying to drive her to an institution to get her help.  There is no abduction at all. 

As I watched the American version things were pretty even (except for the unneeded strained marriage). The tension was there, the suspense was there, even the character development was there. I was ready to write a post about how I was wrong!

And then it happened. They changed something. They added something. For no reason at all. 

At the very end Jake Gyllenhaal is told by another officer that the baby is alive. He then places a phone call, and that’s it. That’s the end. The baby surviving didn’t really change the plot at all. Was it just letting the viewer off the hook?  

These films were so similar, that I went back and re-watched the ending of the Danish film wondering if I had missed something. I didn’t.

Point, Set, Match: Denmark

Stay tuned for another episode of Spoiler Alert. I may go deep into the whole Vanishing thing. That story needs to be told!