Topic: Why do americans remake movies instead of dubbing them ?

[Touti]

Last night I watched a very good french movie called "36 Quai des orfèvres", I was looking for some more info about it and found that there is an american remake coming out in 2008 called "36" with Robert DeNiro and George Clooney.

Why is it that sometimes american studios want to buy rights of movies to remake them instead of just dubbing them when in other cases they will use a dubbed version (The crimson rivers for example).

I'm not citicizing here, I am just wondering what's the reason behind this.

[Touti]

I don't think any other country has the equivalent of Hollywood and the huge studios.  Here in Quebec and Canada, it's hardly possible to make a movie without the financial help of governments because the limited distribution makes it impossible to make profit.

Under those circumstances, I doubt that anyone could actually afford the rights on a scripts on top of the enormous cost of making the movie.

What I find surprising is that in the USA it is not systematic.  As I said before, do remake certain movies and they take dubbed versions of others.  I wonder what is the basis behind the decision, will they only take dubbed version if the rightful owner refuses to sell the rights for a remake ?  Is it only certain studios that works this way ?  Is it because they're afraid the american people won't be interested in the movie if they don't know the actors/actresses ?

[SailorRipley]

Well, I guess the remake mentality is quite complex in itself and I don't think the studio machine is at blame. It's always the consumer, although this doesn't mean there aren't some really good remakes out there. As for the 'why' of it all, I would say it's well beyond the foreign language; it's more about the foreign culture. Sure, people can be extremely lazy and unwilling to have subtitles, but I think they key is the different attitudes than the ones you're as used to as a viewer. It's not that they won't watch, say, House of Flying Daggers just because it's in Mandarin, but because the whole culture is alienating them and, well, they're close minded, as horrible as that sounds.

So, as a result, people won't watch Seven Samurai, but how about The Magnificent Seven? A pure remake but told in terms you can understand. "Hey, yeah, a western, I can identify with that, at least much more so than a group of sword-yielding samurai whose culture I don't get".

It's sad but this unwilling bunch is a very distinct kind of people, it's like living in your own personal microcosms where everything that is outside of it is labeled as 'weird'. I won't say that America is a country filled with people with this path of thought, just because I have quite a lot of friends in America who are very multicultural-oriented. But perhaps people who think this way represent a huge number, at least a very important number for Hollywood studios.

I don't mean to sound offensive to anyone, but I'll extend into an example here that happened at the Invelos site. I don't know if you remember a very particular comment made by Rifter in that thread about Costa-Gavras. "Personally, the guy is a loon and its an affectation, must be a french thing or something". Besides being a very gratuitous thing to say, it made me think Rifter possesses this very same line of thought I'm talking about; I don't think Rifter watches a lot of French films, but I hope I'm wrong.

If our own personal prejudices affect the way we live and think, of course this will extend to our viewing habits and will make us say: "A french movie? Nah, those guy are loons". But if you feed them a remake of that same French film, with a setting they know, and actors they recognize, they will eat this movie cake faster than you can say "Hey, but it's a remake". Film studios only make what the audience wants and accept.

The day we all stop giving labels to people and tag them as being crazy, stupid or offensive just in the basis of their nationality or culture, we will accept every film there is out there, regardless of the country it came from. And remakes will cease to exist. Honest.

Sorry for the very long post.

[Touti]

I find your remark about the culture very interesting because we've been talking about remakes but really they're not.  Usually the studios will make an american movie based on the same idea but they hardly use the same script.  I do not entirely agree with you about the american people being "close minded" about other cultures.  I think they are just like anyone in any country, they watch what is offered to them.  To some degree it may be chauvinism, after all every people in every country is a bit chauvinistic, but I think it's more of a business decision.  As I already said, big names bring big money.

[Najemikon]

That's a great post, Sailor.

First off I think you give people too much credit. Most people I know, casual filmgoers or fans alike, won't touch foreign film because of subtitles or simply because they assume it will be boring. Where that comes from I can't work out, but sadly, it proves the remake mentality correct.

The point about culture does have a bearing but I think it depends on the country. I must admit, my taste in French films is very limited. They seem to like an abstract narrative, which I just can't enjoy. I've made an effort recently and loved Le Samourai, but to be fair, it was French tempered by US/Japan.

Asian film is quite Americanised anyway, even when they do it better. You're right about Hero and Daggers, but I'm thinking more horror. Remakes work very easily. A shame because they always lose something, but no way is the average member of the public going to go. I know a girl who loves gory films like Hostel or Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake!), but she won't try subs, so misses out on a lot of great stuff. She also has a prejudice against "old" films, therefore hasn't seen the proper TCM. Mind you, I can't blame her as I never saw the appeal! 

As an example, The Departed was great, but rather bloated. I saw it with a mate and he really liked it. I tried to get him to consider Infernal Affairs. Leaner, smarter, shiny-er(!), but there was no chance.

But saying all that, why are martial arts films so popular at least to a cult type audience?

[SailorRipley]

Interesting thoughts, Naje, and I agree with your POV. I think we all can do better, to deny 'old' films or 'foreign' ones is to be pretty close-minded.

But saying all that, why are martial arts films so popular at least to a cult type audience?

To answer that, I'll tell you this. Not long ago I was browsing through the IMDb forums (I know, what the hell was I thinking?) and found a very particular comment about Zhang Yimou's Hero that said something like "Well, I had no idea what was going on there, but these guys sure can kick ass..."

Language and culture can be a social hemorrhoid, but kicking ass is universal.

[Touti]

It started with Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet, now I'm hooked - I've fed my addiction ever since!

That's just it, exactly what I was gonna write.  I don't think martial art movies would be popular in the united states if it had not been for Bruce Lee, to start with but, and probably only, because american martial art actors like Chuck Norris "took over".

Bruce Lee's character in the Green Hornet opened up the box but it wasn't long before he had to move back to asia to get a role and that's where he became a huge star and the cult actor he is now.

[Najemikon]

Language and culture can be a social hemorrhoid, but kicking ass is universal.

Bloody great line, that!