The Good, The Bad, and The Weird

I realize I wrote three posts in a row with single word titles, so I'm making up for it now with probably one of the longest titles posted yet. Anyway, let's get the obvious out of the way...yes, it's a remake of the The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The plot still revolves around three central characters all searching for the same thing. Each of the three are archetypes playing off one another. And yes, it's still a "western." The setting is in the deserts of China and if you think this can't possibly work, check out the trailer:


(source: Hancinema)

Only through the familiar set up of this reinterpretation does this film resemble its inspirational source. In fact, if the title wasn't what it is, you might not realize it immediately. As you watch it, however, it will dawn on you that there's something comfortable about the story, but it has so much that is different stylistically, and that is what true "remakes" should be about. As The Magnificent Seven suffused Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai with the unique setting and grand heroics of the American frontier, I think The Good, The Bad, and The Weird infuses something uniquely Asian, and more importantly, uniquely Korean into Leone's masterpiece. Backed with the appropriate budget, a director who understands both the stylization and reinterpretation required, and 3 of Korea's top actors to give the characters life, the film looks to have the grand set pieces, a wry humor, and production design to successfully distinguish itself.

Hollywood has been doing a lot of remakes based on Asian properties, and I think it's about time that Asia begin returning the "favor." I think Asia has a special eye for storytelling and deep rooted sense of "myth" which could show that a poorly developed property in Hollywood, might have had much more potential if it had been put into the right hands. If anything, a fresh reinterpretation of an American (North, Central, or South) or European film could be a good exercise for Asian directors in telling stories that aren't within their comfort zone, and that can only lead to better filmmakers.