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From Venice comes word on the Michael Caine/Jude Law SLEUTH remake!!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I've wanted to catch the original (also starring Michael Caine) for a while now, so it looks like I'll have to dig that up soon if I want to get a viewing in before the remake hits. I also wanted to see another Caine '70s flick called PULP for a while, too... hrmm... double-feature material, maybe?
Anyway, we got a review in from the Venice Film Festival of the remake and it sounds... really damn good! Beware of spoilers!
Hi Harry,
Greetings from Venice! Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the world premiere of Sleuth which is a remake of a 1972 film of the same name.
First some back story. Last year I was in Venice a week before the film festival started but had no chance to stay. After seeing the list of great movies that premiered here last year, I vowed I would not miss it this year. As a non-industry person, I wondered how hard it would be to get tickets to the event since it is after arguably the #2 festival in the world behind Cannes. Surprisingly, it was extremely easy. The festival is completely accessible to the general public for even the big premiers. It only took a couple of emails to buy passes. Now you may say, oh but Venice is so expensive and very hard to find a room. Well I will gladly tell you that there is a very easy way around it. I was able to rent my own apartment for a week 5 minutes from Saint Mark's Square for less than half the price of a hotel.
Ok so now onto the review - Beware ****SPOILERS***
Adapted from a stage play of the same name, Sleuth stars Michael Caine and Jude Law and is directed by Kenneth Branagh. Caine and Law are the only two actors ever shown on camera for the entire film keeping the feel of a play. The story is about an old rich and famous author named Andrew Wyke (Caine) who has summoned his wife's young actor lover named Milo Tilmen (Law) to his estate for a meeting. In the 1972 original version, Caine actually played the role of Milo against Laurence Olivier's Andrew.
The movie opens in black & white as we watch the events unfolding over the eyes of the estate's security cameras! It was an amazing cinema-graphic twist to show almost the entire first act from the point of the various security cameras on the house - some in color and some in black & white. It gives you the feel that you are spying into someone's life as the events unfold.
As should come as no surprise, Andrew and Milo exchange quips about each other's personal lives. The best which Andrew repeatedly uses is to call Milo a hairdresser which is an homage to the original version where Milo actually was a hairdresser and not an actor. Simply put, its a masterful exchange of banter that could easily justify a Best Actor nomination for Caine or Law. After the banter, Andrew offers Milo a chance to make money to cover the expenses of supporting his money loving wife. He proposes Milo steal her jewels worth a million pounds. Funny how times change as the 1972 version had the jewels worth 100,000 pounds. Seems inflation has been bad in the past 35 years. After jumping through several hoops, Milo "steals" the jewels At which point, Andrew pulls out a gun and gets Milo to beg for his life. He then shoots Milo who we see collapse on the floor.
The second act opens with another shot from the security camera as a car drives up. The doorbell rings with the arrival of a police detective who strangely sounds like Jude Law. The inspector humiliates Andrew to the point of him begging not to be arrested when Milo reveals himself from the makeup. To this point, the storyline is very similar to the 1972 version. It deviates massively with a very different ending in compression to the 1972 version and I will leave it at that.
***END Spoilers****
In short, Sleuth is an amazing example of what kind of performances you get when you lock 2 great actors in a room. Don't miss it. After the movie was done, the crowd gave it a 5 minute standing ovation during the credits. I don't know if this is typical or not but it was well deserved. I was fortunate enough to shake Ken's hand and congratulate him as he walked out the door. If you are a fan of the cinema, Venice is simply the show not to miss as this kind of access to the stars would never be possible in Hollywood.
Tonight I will catch Redacted (Brian De Palma's new film) followed by Michael Clayton, the new Clooney flick. Tomorrow however is the uber geek experience with the premiere of Blade Runner - The Final Cut. Reviews of all to follow.
-Mastidon
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do i have the record yet?
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Cool.
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who doesn't know his place!
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Get Carter... Alfie... The Italian Job... They've all been absolutely terrible remakes to say the least. Is this the first time an actor who was in an original film has appeared in the remake? Proper roles - sly cameos, like Gregory Peck's appearance in Scorcese's 'Cape Fear' don't count.
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WHATTT???????????
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People always seem to say in these reviews of screenings " there was a ( fill in the blank ) minute standing ovation ".
Like the guy above .
Surely this is an exaggeration .
Seriously , just stare at your watch for 5 full minutes and see how much of an eternity it feels like . Now picture the same amount of time doing nothing but applauding . Not only would your hands be falling off , but its just seems bizarre , to applaud for 5 full minutes for a film .
Anyway , don't know why I'm bringing this up . I'm just cranky today , cos I've decided to go off the booze from now until Oct .
I've been dry since Monday , but now that's its Friday and I'm nearly done with work ( I'm in Dublin so it 4.30pm ) I'm starting to regret my decision .
Too late now though . I told all my buddies I was doing it and they all told me I would have no fucking chance and that I wouldn't even last till Sunday . So if nothing else I have to stay dry just to shut those fuckers up .
AH . AICN . if it wasn't for you I'd be in AA after work
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that is something that has always bothered me too. Having done some stage work and now working as a movie reviewer for a newspaper, I've never seen or expireenced the almight "5 minute standing ovation". It's an eternit. HOwever I've yet to go to a film festival where the director and/or stars are in attendance maybe it's something that happens in those situations, I don't know
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This sounds like it may be pretty good, but whilst Caine is fit to fill the shoes of Olivier, Law sure as fuck isn't fit to polish Caine's.
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You could be right,especially if the cast and crew were there .
Its just when I picture it in my head I cant help but think it strangely hilarious.
The crew standing there facing the crowd hands by their sides , the crowd facing the crew , applauding for 5 full minutes and everybody is afraid to move from the auditorium for fear of upsetting each other .
Its just funny to me .
As I said though . I'm just in a strange mood
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Ashanti, The Swarm, The Hand, The ISland, Blame it on Rio, Jaws: The Revenge, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, Escape to Victory, Water, On Deadly Ground and most of all Bullseye. Or is he just going to be remaking the good ones - smacks of cowardice!!!!!
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theatrical in nature. Olivier's performance was so playful, that I wonder how Caine will adapt it. I will miss Ken Adams original design that was crammed with detail, in what looks to be replaced by a sterile glass and metal interior. Curious how much Pintner has altered the play. And I think that in this regard a remake is not unwarranted, because it is a new adaptation of the original play, not of an original screenplay.
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or Bewitched, Secondhand Lions, the Get Carter remake...since this is being remade, what about Deathtrap?
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LA TIMES reports today that it stunned audiences. Sounds like a return to form for DePalma. And as for SLEUTH: loved the original, and see no reason to remake it. But will give it a shot based on Caine and Pinter's involvement.
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The list of Shit Michael Caine films is staggeringly large - those abomination Harry Palmer shittraps with Jason Connery, that shitty Russel Mulcahy thing - the Jigsaw Man, The Holcroft Covenant etc etc etc
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It was the entire length of the credits and then some.
I just got in from Michael Clayton and Redacted. Full review tomorrow. Redacted was everything the LA Times said and more, Michael Clayton - extremely disappointing. -
Caine? What? Is he basing his career on remaking Caine classics?
Love Michael Caine, one of my favorite actors and oh-so sexy.
Jude Law, cannot stand the sight of him. -
I haven't read the other posts--is there a point to reading them?--but want to say I can't wait to see this movie. The play was great, the old movie was great, so I'm Jude doesn't let me down.
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the original film and play are amazing. Still wanna see this, but this review is completely fabricated by the studio releasing it. Why do they feel they have to do this?
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... is not uncommon at the night screenings in Venice when they show big movies with they big stars in attendance. Often it's more a tribute to the status of stars and directors than to the quality of the movie itself. One of the few movies without stars that got an ovation so long was 2003 winner, the Russian movie "Vozvrashcheniye (The Return)".
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I wish I had been planeted by the studio. Far more intersting than the real work I do of Internet Security. Just emailed Quint my next reviews. Hope you enjoy them.
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Thanks Mastidon. Looks like the film got a terrific reception.
From the Sleuth board at IMDb:
"Just watching a short about the movie on the news and Caine, Law and Brannagh stood outside to a 7 minute standing ovation."
And from someone reporting from the festival: http://filmexperience.blogspot.com/2007/08/notes-from-venice-day-23.html
"What I can talk about is Sleuth, Kenneth Branagh's update of a 1970 play and a 1972 movie that also starred Michael Caine. It is a "delicious little devil of a movie in its own right" as I note in my full Sleuth review on european-films.net, though it still remains a small film to my eyes, especially because it retains its stagey feel throughout the film: it is essentially two men talking for 90 minutes.
It came as something of a shock to see that that is the film that leads the Competition score board for the moment, as published in an Italian-language daily distributed during the festival. It has the highest ratings of both the Italian critics and the members of the Italian audience that are part of an audience jury, followed by Lust, Caution and then Atonement. Comparing this to the reviews in the English-language press, it seems to be rather the contrary, with Atonement being on top. What gives..." -
"alfred" "yes batman?" "I'm awesome" "indeed, batman"
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Hey Cracker, thanks for that info. I have not heard anything about how the films are ranked at the moment. I will chase that tomorrow as it is 3:47 am here atm. I just sent in a very short review of Blade Runner so hopefully they will post it for you. No sign of my Redacted review as I write this. IMO, that should be leading in votes - although I did really love Sleuth. Unfortunately, I arrived a day too late to see Attonemnt.
BTW, thanks for the justification on my 5 min remark. Glad to hear it was actually 7!
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