Saturday, July 31, 2010

America Remakes French Films

It took me awhile to figure out that "Dinner for Schmucks," a new movie starring Steve Carrel and Paul Rudd, was more than just a summer comedy with an unappealing promotional poster.  It's also a remake of a very famous French flim called "Le dîner de cons."  In fact, haven't a fair number of French films been remade in America?  A few that quickly came to mind were:

Mon père, ce héros - My Father the Hero

La cage aux folles - Birdcage

Trois hommes et un couffin - Three Men and a Baby

A Google search turned up an article that better outlines this Franco-American cinematic phenomenon, lists numerous French films that have been remade in the States, and includes video clips.  Anything missing from the list?

3 comments:

Karen said...

La Femme Nikita is the first one to come to mind. The only French movie remade in the states that I liked better than the original was Diabolique.

Unknown said...

I can add a couple to the list:
La Cage Aux Folles > the bircage
La Totale > True Lies
Un Indien dans la ville > Jungle to Jungle
(actually just noticed that a scene from True Lies was filmed just across the street from where I live in DC)

Unknown said...

Oops, you already had the birdcage on the list ;-)but in the meantime, I did think of one more:
Le Retour de Martin Guerre > Sommersby (I actually liked the version with Richard Gere)