Will this ruin the original?

um.... no




I am Jack's complete lack of surprize.

The remake really sucks. I hate how nowadays you can throw a little nudity here and there, a cheese ending, and riding on the fame of the original version, and it's suddenly omgtehbestmovieinteh world. Clouzot's version is way better. I nearly died during the bathtub scene when Vera Clouzot was screaming her eyes out. And nearly died again when the little boy said he saw her. That was some really scary sh*t.

«You're a killer.»
«Partly. I'm a cop.»

There's nothing wrong per se remaking a film provided there's some sensible reason for doing so. Remakes however of classic films are rarely if ever better and are usually markedly worse. Remaking a bad or mediocre film makes some sort of sense; remaking an excellent one is really rather foolish and is done simply to make a bit of easy cash on the back of the original film's reputation or to make films available to the culturally monoliterate. Occasionally one can end up with two rather different films (both good) so The Magnificent Seven is a good film even if it is not a patch on The 7 Samurai because it transposes the story into a different cultural universe but US remakes of French films have a truly dismal history. Compare sometime Luc Besson's sizzling Nikita with the pallid American remake or Molinaro's wonderful Cage aux Folles with the perfectly execrable Birdcage (a veritable horror of inappropriate acting and bad timing). Not to mention - and I would really very much rather not - Three Men and a Baby.

It is not worth getting into an "it's better - no it isn't" dialogue but it is really worth looking carefully at Clouzot's Les Diaboliques (if necessary frame by frame). If after that anyone still fails to understand what makes Clouzot such a wonderful director and this film of 1955 such an imperishable and inimitable classic then possibly they should consult an optician.

How would one version ruin the other? Will your player kill the original if you watch the remake?


I only have one photograph in my hands...

what? why would that happen? you've already seen & loved the original so, why would a poor remake ruin your that experience, after the fact? i saw the remake when it came out, before i even knew it was a remake. still, when i did finally see the '56, french original, right from the start it was a lot more enjoyable to me. sure, the 90's allowed lurid (& clumsy) 'sex' scenes to be shown, & a more crisp, saturated film, in color. but, those things were wasted on jeremiah chechik's banal film making, especially compared to henri-georges clouzot's original. though i have to say, when i saw chechik's "benny & joon", i loved it. but as with diabolique, i was young & inexperienced. i imagine if i saw both now, i might not be able to stand them ...
oh wait! i'm responding to a post from 4 years ago???
damn ... i'm a time-wasting-film-dork.