MovieChat Forums > Lilith (1964) Discussion > Will 'Lilith' ever be remade?

Will 'Lilith' ever be remade?

posted 18 years ago by byczekfemale
17 replies | jump to latest

They seem to be remaking every old movie nowadays. Will they ever remake "Lilith", or do you think the subject matter is too depressing, or disturbing? After all, this film deals with insanity, suicide, and loneliness. These are not exactly popular topics, especially when it comes to movie plots. Lilith's character can also be considered a pedophile, since she is sexually attracted to little boys. Does anybody know if the author J.R. Salamanca is still alive? Perhaps he, or his estate, will not sell the novel rights to any more film directors out there, thus preventing a remake?

I look forward to all forms of feedback.

Thank you in advance!

Sincerely, S.B.

[–] Balthazar-5 17 years ago

Robert Rossen's Lilith is so exquisite I think there would be few filmmakers of any stature who would dare to remake it. Maybe Gus Van Sant - after all he was stupid enough to remake Psycho...
And what cinematographer would wish to have his work compared to Eugene Schuftan's sensational lensing of Rossen's film? He would be on a hiding to nothing.
The more you look at Lilith, the more it looks like a transcendental masterpiece.
Mike

'Wisdom would be to see life, really see, that would be wisdom.' JLG.

PS Salamanca may still be alive as he published 'That Summer's Trance' in 2000.

[–] byczekfemale 17 years ago

Interesting comments Balthazar-5. "Lilith" is a one of a kind movie. I hope and pray nobody remakes it. However, knowing the way modern Hollywood operates, somebody will. Even the most talented directors would do no justice to "Lilith". If they made a "revision" version, such a movie would be too much of a far cry from the original. On the other hand, if they did a "scene for scene" remake (just like the 1998 "Psycho" remake) the film would be pointless. If somebody insists on remaking it, I feel it should be done in black and white, just out of respect for the 1964 version. However, black and white movies don't seem to do so well at the box office anymore, no matter how well done they are (take "Ed Wood" back in 1994 for example). It also seems like the young crowd considers B&W movies to be boring and old-fashioned.

Sincerely, S.B.

[–] Balthazar-5 17 years ago

The following is simply a factual remark - though a sad one.
During the era when the great majority of films were made in B/W, cinematographers had to undergo a rigorous training that was based on the way to light sets for B/W film - this took decades! (most of the major cinematographers in Hollywood were at least 50). When, in the late '50s, largely due to the competition from Kodak to Technicolor's dominance of the market in colour film, colour became standard, the requirement to train for B/W lighting (much more complex than lighting for colour) was dropped, virtually none of the young cinematographers decided to learn how to light for B/W. This is a skill/craft/art that has more or less disappeared.

Lilith is an even more extreme case, as Shufftan was an innovator in B/W cinematography (inventor of the 'Shufftan Process'). And, as I said in my comment on the film, both he and Rossen probably realised that this was their last chance - Rossen because he was dying, Shufftan because he thought he wouldn't get another B/W feature.

Mike

'Wisdom would be to see life, really see, that would be wisdom.' JLG.

[–] patchofblue65 17 years ago

Leave it alone. It was a good film. With Warren Beatty and the great tragic Jean Seberg in it how can you replace them? Knowing Hollywood today, they would get some poptart to play the Jean Seberg character and some hunky retard to play Warren Beatty's character. The film has a beautiful ethereal quality that would be hard to reproduce today. And also, the majority of remakes suck!

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[–] TheMemphian 16 years ago

Why not repaint the Mona Lisa?

Remaking Lillith would be like asking current Ford motor engineers to build a Stage Coach. It would be technically accurate (looking, anyway), with no sign of the craftsmanship and usability of the original. Current engineers don't use the Stage Coach enough to understand what is required for it's design and implementation, just as the current filmmaking community has no conception of the antiquated mindset and thought process needed to produce a film of this nature.
It's nobody's fault, it's simply that evolution has been moving too fast in last 40 years and, as a symptom, has spawned the age of the remake, mainly for the lack of fresh ideas, but also for fear of moving forward with the human race, or the future itself. I feel this trend will eventually pass, as all awkward ages do, and the idea of a remake will lose it's power.
Maybe someday, we will relearn how to leave well-enough alone and simply enjoy existing beauty, instead of raping and looting all the juice out of it, in an attempt to fill up our empty lives. Their are more productive ways. Originality and forward thinking were behind the production of Lillith. How did we lose those attributes, when they are the very things we all seem to admire?

Lillith is a Masterpiece and I love Jean Seberg as if she were my own family. I have no wish to see any of her work mocked, distorted or even fondled. Same goes for the Mona Lisa.

"What rotten sins I've got working for me. I suppose it's the wages." -Bedazzled (1967)

[–] tristanrobin 16 years ago

With all due respect, I'm not sure you can compare a film with painting. A painting stands on its own merit and succeeds or fails on its "existence." Film - like music and theatre - is a performing art. It requires an audience to be complete.

I find remaking a film to have more in common with recording a previously recorded symphony or opera ... there is no reason not to see it with new eyes and different talents involved.

Granted, many of these remakes are just dreadful (Psycho, Sabrina, Father of the Bride, The Ladykillers, and Thomas Crown Affair come immediately to mind). However, there have been remakes which, in my opinion, actually improve on the originals - Oceans Eleven, The Fly, The Wizard of Oz (the '39 classic was a remake!), Cape Fear, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, The Italian Job, 3:10 to Yuma, and others.

Though there are more remakes that fail than succeed, I think that's more an indication of the numbers game - there are simply a lot more movies that fail artistically than succeed.

Tristan

[–] TheMemphian 16 years ago

"I'm not sure you can compare a film with painting. A painting stands on its own merit and succeeds or fails on its "existence." Film - like music and theatre - is a performing art. It requires an audience to be complete."
----
If a painting has no viewer, does it exsist?
Film is not like Theatre or live music. It's worked and pondered over just like a painting or a recorded piece of music. Would Sgt. Pepper sound better re recorded today in a modern studio? No, because it was of it's time, just like a painting or a film. Would West Side Story be as good on Broadway now as it was 50 years ago? Probably, yes, because there is nothing to compare it to.

"Oceans Eleven, The Fly, Cape Fear, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, The Italian Job, 3:10 to Yuma, and others."
----
Most of these movies weren't good, so improving on them wasn't difficult. These are the remakes that succeed. Lilith was of it's time and perfect. There is no new Jean Seberg. No one is even remotely close or could be.

"What rotten sins I've got working for me. I suppose it's the wages." -Bedazzled (1967)

[–] fhh68 15 years ago

In today's world, Warren Beatty's character would be arrested for taking advantage of a psychiatric patient, and all the other doctors and therapists would be fired for allowing it to happen. So a remake set today would be a non movie, all the staff would get fired, and they could never let them wander around at will at a dangerous place like the waterfall, or take them on a date to a fair etc.

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[–] lolarites 15 years ago

Maybe she was molesting her little brother before she killed him?

[–] KlutzyGirl 14 years ago

lolarites, your question underscores why I'd like to see it remade--who knows whether she did or not? To me the biggest weakness of the film is the ambiguity that runs throughout. I assume it's more because of what was allowable at the time than the director's intention, but there are so MANY unclear plot points! Makes it very hard to follow. I never cared for Seberg, but when I read that this was her favorite role I rented it. I thought she was marvelous but the overall result very disappointing. Yes, the cinematography was great, but that doesn't make it understandable. As much as I hate remakes in general, I'd love to see this interesting story done right. My opinion, to which I am entitled whether it agrees with anyone else's or not!

[–] AllisonRoad 13 years ago

I hope they do not remake it. Like dougdoepke says in his review, this "elliptical oddity" of a film "would not have been made 5 years earlier" and, in my opinion, will not do the story justice if done today. The film was a wonderful adaptation of the book it was based on. Having read a little about J. R. Salamanca (it is hard to find stuff about him), the author of "Lilith", I believe this story is based on his own personal experiences. It was filmed, I believe, at the actual Lodge where he worked (Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, MD) after WWII. Jean Seberg so powerfully captured the Lilith character that a remake will certainly change the story. Even the original film, in my opinion, has trouble with the Beatty character because so much of his story is internal to him. The first-person narrative, as written by Salamanca, gives the reader a powerful connection with the Beatty character that the film simply cannot render. But Rossen makes up for this, wonderfully and unforgettably, by bringing the Seberg character into wonderful visual relief. And Ms. Seberg herself dazzles in a way the pages of a book, or even your own imagination, cannot.

[–] jrhpax 12 years ago

The movie is just about perfect as it is.

This may be the appropriate place to comment: At times, the wonderful Jean Seberg reminds me of Lindsay Lohan. (Don't laugh. It's true.)

[–] TheChamCham 10 years ago

Lilith was not a standard "pedophile". Her sexual desires were limitless and left out no one.

"I say,open this door at once! We're British !"