Remakes

Last night I was disgusted to discover that someone has decided to remake the German film Mostly Martha, or Bella Martha, into an American movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart. As I see it, movies are remade either because they were flawed to begin with or the director has something to add by giving it a new twist or updating the film. I'm not opposed to remakes themselves. I like both versions of Sabrina and I own two film versions of Pride and Prejudice and wouldn't mind owning more. And here's a really geeky admission: Don't tell George Lucas, but I hope that one day someone will remake Episodes I, II, and III of Star Wars. Let's just say that after waiting my entire childhood for the prequels, they were a bit more than disappointing.

Given that Mostly Martha was released only six years ago, I don't think it needs to be updated and after watching the preview, it seems that the only new twist added to the movie is English, American movie stars, and a trend towards blunt explanations and trite commentary rather than the subtlty of the original film. Gee, that sounds harsh. And I just have a hard time thinking of Aaron Eckhart as a romantic lead. He always seems so slimy to me. Of course, this isn't to say that the original movie was perfect. It was a bit cheesy itself, but for me much of its charm comes from the fact that although the story is universal, the story had a German flavor. I guess I'm nothing more than a shameless xenophile.

My husband thinks I'm overreacting. And after watching the preview again, I've decided that maybe there is some merit in an Americanized version of the movie. Some people, who might not otherwise know about Mostly Martha, might decide to seek it out after seeing No Reservations. After all, if it weren't for Lake House, I probably never would have heard of Il Mare.