How Do You Say 'Blood Simple' in Chinese?
Filed under: Comedy, Foreign Language, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, Sony Classics, Distribution, Remakes and Sequels, Cinematical Indie
Yes, I have a knee-jerk negative reaction to remakes in general. Yes, I love Blood Simple, the Coen Brothers' debut feature, so much so that I wrote a long article about the film. Yes, I initially thought the prospect of a Chinese version set in a noodle shop was ridiculous.
On the other hand, we're talking Zhang Yimou, people! He's a world-class filmmaker who has demonstrated his artistry over many years, ranging from the delicate poetry of Raise the Red Lantern to the homespun humanity of Not One Less to the martial arts dramatics of House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower. Do I want to see that guy remake Blood Simple in Chinese? Heck yes!
The new version will indeed be set in a Chinese noodle shop, but rather than Texas, the background will be "a sand dune-specked desert." The premise remains the same -- a married man's plot to kill his adulterous wife and her lover quickly spins out of control -- with a slight twist: these characters are more accustomed to knives and swords than guns.Sony Pictures Classics will release the picture, which is currently untitled; Anne Thompson has the press release. The Coen Brothers really have no reason to complain, since they had no compunction about remaking Alexander Mackendrick's The Ladykillers.
If you have any doubts that Zhang can handle a thriller-comedy, may I refer you to Happy Times, which wrung deadpan laughs out of a dramatic situation that could have been smarmy and dreary. While he hasn't made a dark thriller before, he'd never made an action picture before Hero (the one with Jet Li) either, and that turned out pretty darn good. So I have every confidence that he'll make something distinctive, and definitely his own, out of Blood Simple.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-29-2009 @ 8:56PM
John Borges said...
Brood Simpre
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7-29-2009 @ 9:20PM
Avon said...
Not funny.
7-29-2009 @ 9:20PM
Avon said...
I'm sure the feeling of unease is the exact same that many an Asian director has felt about Hollywood remaking their film.
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7-30-2009 @ 12:47AM
AT said...
Damn Americans, why must they always remake Asian classics?
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7-30-2009 @ 8:44AM
Wexler said...
I loved Curse of the Golden Flower so I definitely trust Yimou Zhang to make this type of film. I've never seen Blood Simple, I'm going to have to check it out. Thanks for this bit of news.
Reply
7-30-2009 @ 1:07PM
Midnight13 said...
Remakes are always a peculiar thing, and you make a good point about the Americans re-makeing not just Chinese but forgien films of all kinds with little regard to thier original. I can see Ziyi Zhang as Abby, Frances McDormand's role in the film.
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7-30-2009 @ 8:46PM
ICON! said...
Zhang Yimou will nail it!! His work is gold and as crazy as it sounds, his version may end up being better than the Coens..thats not a slap in the face to the Coens thats just atestament to how awesome Yimou is!! CAN'T WAIT!!
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