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Subtitles. Such a magical thing it is to have divvied the collective in two. There is a tendency in foreign film aficionados to insult moviegoers who don't like subtitles as stupid or illiterate, or of bad taste. The sad thing is, I've met film lovers who have excellent taste in English-language films, but say they avoid subtitles because the texts distract from the beauty of the visuals and the actor's delivery. Whatever the case may be, I'm in the opinion that remakes of foreign films should not be about translation; it should be about exploring uncharted territories in cultural differences.

MTV caught up with Cloverfield director Matt Reeves, who is deep into the scripting stage of his remake of Swedish flick Let the Right One In. In the chat, he tries to explain why he thinks it would be a good idea to remake the film, but really, I don't think he managed to justify anything at all.

“The movie and the book are incredibly Swedish yet there’s something so universal about the tale of this kid and something that in the context of an American story could be completely different while being very consistent with the original story. There’s something about it that can be an American mythic tale.”

“I had such a personal reaction when I saw the movie and when I read the book. I felt like there was an opportunity to do something incredibly personal while still being in a genre arena.”

Read the rest.

It sounds like he's just describing the original film. Reeves is thinking of setting in Colorado to keep the snowy locale. I don't know what the heck he means by it being so Swedish and so universal at the same time. I found it pretty damn universal already and I don't see how exactly how they would make it more "American." There aren't any loner kids turning to violence in America, discovering their first love and their sexuality?

Of course, it would be premature of me to assume that Reeves has nothing up his sleeves; he may very well be cooking up a fresh angle to the story. The tragedy is that he could spend the time doing something original rather than translating a movie already precious to begin with.

I miss dubs.

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Comments (1)

November 15, 2008, Lex Walker said:

	Doesn't the fact that he connected with the original so much imply that the original transcended the "incredibly swedish nature" of the story? This is the second report I've heard of Hollywood remaking a foreign film less than a year after it's original release. Is it just me, or is Hollywood starting to look more desperate than ever?
	Votes: +1 report abuse vote down vote up

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