Reno
Sep 9, 2016
6/10
How long one's eyes can keep secret!
My confession is I haven't seen the original film. I had several opportunities, but for various reasons I stayed unwatched till now. Firstly, I won't consider it a remake since both the films were adapted from a novel. Yet no one can stop the people comparing between the two, just to find out which one is true to the book. In my perspective, I think the original source was written keeping the Argentinian society, because that dark tone narration suits them. I have seen many Argentinian films, but for the American kind of storytelling, it does not appeal. Even though it was not a bad film, I somewhat enjoyed, maybe because I haven't seen the other version.
The actors were great, but it was Chiwetel Ejiofor's film, He dominated the screenspace, and Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts were slightly disappointed with their small roles. But overall, they all made it a decent film, particularly the direction impressed me for handling neatly knowing it is already once made a film. The story was suspenseful, yet it feels familiar and lets you predict the each scene before its commencement. Yes, I thought it was holding something big for the end part, and then it gives out all clues leading that way. So I kind of assumed what the end twist might be and that happened, but a bit differently.
This kind of screenplay totally works for a Korean style filmmaking, but Hollywood is expert in a different field. Wherever it comes the film, a film is a film, so I won't blame it on a regional ground for lacking of something. But it should have been a bit better, maybe more thrilling and making the characters more stronger with emotionally appealing could have worked, particularly for a certain group of audience. If you're watching this story for the first time, then you might enjoy it, but for the other reasons you might not. Whatever, not a bad film for watching it once.
6/10