With the embarassment regarding colonialism and sensitivity of racial relations, even though it is a great story, producers today would obviously not green light it.
Made in 1939, so would this film have been made in 1959? or 1969? What point in time would Hollywood pass on it?
I was wondering about this too. I also wonder if movies like Zulu and The Naked Prey would be made today as well.
Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"
The interesting aspect of this issue, is that Gunga Din would *not* have been made in 1939 either! Except in places like the US and the UK. In the republic of Ireland it would not have been made. Poland and the whole of Eastern Europe, Russia would not have produced such a film. Indians in India obviously would not; Chinese wouldn't, Southeast Asians- Filipinos, Thais, Vietnamese, forget about it.
There is something particularly American and British about the movie, and yes, from that era. We shouldn't assume that everyone in the world was as unenlightened and illiberal as the Americans and Brits from that time period.
Oh, I know there was much less liberalism back in those days. I think that there should probably have been a scene told from the Thugees POV so that they didn't seem so one-dimensional. Only the leader seems to have any real personality.
Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"
Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but as far as the Thugees go, one doesn't have to like or approve of them, in order to see that the general premise of Gunga Din is very illiberal and presumptuous.
I know. Roger Ebert had the same question when the last version of The Four Feathers came out.
Yippee: "For king!"
Yappee: "For country!"
Yahooie: "And, most of all, for 10¢ an hour!"
We shouldn't assume that everyone in the world was as unenlightened and illiberal as the Americans and Brits from that time period.
I bet you a dollar they wouldn't have made Gunga Din in Stalin's Russia.
Janet! Donkeys!
Zulu certainly could(but please God dont) as it was very respectful to the Zulu people though it would probably show more of the native POV and a lot more of Isandlwana ..
Gunga Din would be very hard but maybe possible,it would have to be much more pro Indian script wise..
Nee ta ma duh tyen-shia suo-yo duh run doh gai si
[deleted]
[deleted]
I'd love to see it re-made just to shove it in to the PC crowd of today.
shareMe too. Screw political correctness. Being PC is just another form of trying to rewrite history to fit some liberal agenda, when the world is not like that and never has been. No one in Hollywood today would have the balls to remake Gunga Din in fear of being labeled a racist, bigot, homophobe, or whatever flavor of the week name and/or character assassination the left could throw at them.
shareTemple of Doom was pretty similar. Not a remake really but if that could be made in the 80s I suppose this could just have been remade then at least. :)
share"Gone with the Wind," seen by many as celebrating The Confederacy and the American South of the time, is seen much the same way. Naturally, neither would ever have been made today.
shareFunny, because “Gods and Generals” came out in 2003 and is a 4-hour epic about the lost cause of the Confederacy.
shareIt had a SLIGHTLY different take on things, dude. C'mon, you're not that ignorant.
shareGods and Generals brings to the big screen the major themes of Lost Cause mythology that professional historians have been working for half a century to combat. In the world of Gods and Generals, slavery has nothing to do with the Confederate cause. Instead, the Confederates are nobly fighting for, rather than against, freedom, as viewers are reminded again and again by one white southern character after another<
The Party was made in 1968. Peter Sellers plays a bumbling Indian actor. https://moviechat.org/tt0063415/The-Party
shareWe see lots of colonialism today. But since it's done by China, no one seems to care.
share