RNL
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Post by RNL on Oct 5, 2006 0:32:52 GMT
Neil LaBute (1963- )1. The Shape of Things (2003) 5/102. The Wicker Man (2006) 1/10
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Oct 5, 2006 13:22:11 GMT
I have In the Company of Men back home.
How was The Wicker Man?
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Oct 5, 2006 15:22:33 GMT
Surprisingly bad. Instead of manufacturing an inherently eerie world (as Hardy did in the original), LaBute opts to 'traumatize' his protagonist at the beginning so that we can periodically enter his tortured dreams and get the requisite spooks. There's a peculiar undercurrent of misogyny to the whole thing, too (supposedly common to most of his films, I can certainly see it in The Shape of Things). The men in the community (which is, figuratively and literally, a bee hive) are 'drones', apparently with their tongues cut out, and are kept around just for procreation. The women are all under-handed, conniving bitches, and the epilogue basically states, "Never, ever trust any woman, ever!". It's no longer directly about religious conflict, so I guess that's the thematic substitute. The plot doesn't seem to make sense this time (despite omitting the surrealistic touches of the original), but it was always going to be difficult to transplant this story to modern-day California.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Oct 5, 2006 16:11:46 GMT
How different was the ending in the remake?
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Oct 5, 2006 16:34:10 GMT
The Wicker Man scene? Basically exactly the same, the context is a little different, just as necessitated by the story changes. Then there's the epilogue.
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