US remakes of French movies

[Clair]

The Philippe Noiret thread got me thinking about French films which are given a US makeover...

Three men and a baby = Trois hommes et un couffin

True lies = La totale *

The man with one red shoe = Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire *

Breathless = A bout de souffle

Cruel intentions = Valmont = Les liaisons dangereuses

Diabolic = Les diaboliques *

Down and out in Beverley Hills = Boudu sauvé des eaux

Fahrenheit 451= Fahrenheit 451 * (edit: this is an English language movie directed by François Truffaud and later dubbed in French)

Father's day = Les compères

The good thief = Bob le flambeur

Point of no return = La femme Nikita

The talented Mr Ripley = Plein soleil

Taxi = Taxi

Twelve Monkeys = La jetée

Under suspicion = Garde à vue

The birdcage = La cage aux folles *

Cousins = Cousin, cousine *

Intersection = Les choses de la vie *

Nine months = Neuf mois

Some of these (*) I think are really worth seeing if you come across the original...

[Deimos]

I'd also asterisk La femme Nikita.  If you watch a version with sub-titles there seem to be two subtitled versions (or more) around.  One where it translates for "general consumption" and another where it translates what is actually said.

Ian

[Clair]

[quote user="Deimos"]I'd also asterisk La femme Nikita.  If you watch a version with sub-titles there seem to be two subtitled versions (or more) around.  One where it translates for "general consumption" and another where it translates what is actually said.Ian[/quote]

I didn't know that...I've seen both the French and the US versions... Mmmm, I'll look out for a DVD...

[PossumGirl]

I wrote an article about this for the Writer's Guild of America a few years ago.  It's something that often really irritates me, because the American version frequently has the credits for the original French version hidden somewhere in the final credits so that American audiences don't realize that it was a French movie.  I particularly hate it when the script credit makes it look as if an American wrote it as an original.

Many times, too, a really good French movie is made into an American version that is just such a pale imitation of the original, that I wonder why they bothered.  Of course, it's not done with just French movies, they do it with films from other countries too.  For example, the Japanese version of "Shall We Dance" was wonderful, and I thought the Richard Gere remake was barely so-so.

I understand remaking movies that were a good idea but badly done; but taking a good movie and making it mediocre is just sad.

PG

[BJSLIV]

If anyone wants proof of how not to remake a French file they can watch Les visiteurs en Amerique on TF1 tomorrow. And just to make it even worse its the French dubbed version!

[Dick Smith]

So they took a very funny French movie, made a much less funny American remake and then dubbed it into French?

Why?

[Clair]

[quote user="PossumGirl"]I understand remaking movies that were a good idea but badly done; but taking a good movie and making it mediocre is just sad.PG[/quote]

Hear Hear!

I remember so vividly the tyre bouncing and rolling away after the crash in "Les choses de la vie"... I can just imagine that the US version (which I have not seen) would involve a violent crash scene, filmed from various angles and screened with many explosion and fire effects!! Maybe I am being too quick to assume...

[BJSLIV]

So they took a very funny French movie, made a much less funny American remake and then dubbed it into French?

Why?

I think the logic was it worked in France, so we have Christian Clavier plus Jean Reno, possibly the best known French actor in American films.

It bombed in America, so lets try and recover some of the outlay as a kind of Visteurs 2.

Its really terrible.

[Brian]

Can I add Sommersby vs Martin Guerre*; another example of Richard Gere in a poor remake of a French original.

Brian

[Mistral]

I think the only remake  in that list that I would prefer to watch instead of the original is True lies/la totale. Some of them are OK, some are pale copies, some are just plain embarrassing (yes, les visiteurs does come to mind) It's interesting how many are comedies.

[YCCMB]

Forgive me for my ignorance, but "The Talented Mr Ripley" (Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel)  and "Fahrenheit 451" (Ray Bradbury) (to choose a couple from your list) may have been made into films in France and also in the US, but is it really correct to call the US versions "remakes of French films"? Sounds like a bit of cinematic snobbery to me. They're novels that have been adapted into French or US films, and certainly one adaptation may be better than another, but it's a bit of a poke in the eye to the authors of the original books to describe them in this way, IMHO.

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Mistral"]I think the only remake  in that list that I would prefer to watch instead of the original is True lies/la totale. Some of them are OK, some are pale copies, some are just plain embarrassing (yes, les visiteurs does come to mind) It's interesting how many are comedies.[/quote]

I really disagree about this one.  I thought La Totale was charming and I loved the relationship between the husband and wife.  I felt actually embarrassed watching True Lies and thought it was cruel and meanspirited in the treatment of Jamie Lee Curtis.

PG

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Forgive me for my ignorance, but "The Talented Mr Ripley" (Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel)  and "Fahrenheit 451" (Ray Bradbury) (to choose a couple from your list) may have been made into films in France and also in the US, but is it really correct to call the US versions "remakes of French films"? Sounds like a bit of cinematic snobbery to me. They're novels that have been adapted into French or US films, and certainly one adaptation may be better than another, but it's a bit of a poke in the eye to the authors of the original books to describe them in this way, IMHO.[/quote]

I suppose it's a matter of semantics.  The American producers bought the rights to the French films based on the books, so although they ARE adaptations of the books, they are also remakes of the French movies...

PG

[YCCMB]

Thanks Possumgirl, I understand now. At least, I think I do. I always thought Fahrenheit 451 was an English-language movie directed by Truffaut, though. Was there a pre-existing French version?????

[Clair]

Here's more info on the original movie:

Fahrenheit_451

and contrary to what I thought, it is listed as a British movie.

[PossumGirl]

[quote user="Clair"]Here's more info on the original movie:

Fahrenheit_451

and contrary to what I thought, it is listed as a British movie.

[/quote]

That whole thing about which country a movie is from is so complicated. Especially today, when everything is an international co-production.  It really only matters for awards I think, as no one else really cares.

PG

[Mikey]

woman in red is another one. can't remember who was in french film but in the american it was i think gene wilder and kelly le brock, the ex wife of mr pony tail stevan seagal.

[Clair]

[quote user="Mikey"]woman in red is another one. can't remember who was in french film but in the american it was i think gene wilder and kelly le brock, the ex wife of mr pony tail stevan seagal.[/quote]

Un éléphant ça trompe énormément

[Mikey]

yeh thats the one.