Well, I think my head is pleasantly buzzing like I had pop-rocks and coca-cola. Normally everyone complains about remakes, but I am putting myself squarely in the optimism camp upon the news out of Hong Kong that iconic director Zhang Yimou is currently in the midst of shooting a remake of the Coen Brothers' debut film, neo-noir Blood Simple.
Titled San Qiang Pai An Jing Qi (basic translation: "The Stunning Case of the Three Gun Shots"), it is great to see Zhang Yimou making films again instead of doing weddings, Olympic Ceremonies and other in-the-moment work for hire jobs. And a noir-picture to boot (although arguments could be made that several of the directors films are noir-ish, despite his gorgeous colour palettes).
Save me a seat at the optimists table.
Remakes aren't automatically bad, they usually just turn out that way, particularly when it's Americans doing the remaking. It can be enjoyable to see someone else telling a story I've already heard if they're a good storyteller. Zhang Yimou isn't 100 percent reliable but I'm definitely game for his version of BLOOD SIMPLE.
Hopefully this doesn't go the way of Sony's Korean THINGS CHANGE remake, which as far as I know never quite got made.
Thing is, "Blood Simple" has a story you can milk in many different ways when doing a remake, from sensational to straight thriller to drama to even comedy!
I'm very curious what Zhang Yimou will do with this (well... if it gets made, as Rhythm-X rightfully states, so I'll have my fingers crossed!).
I'm sitting next to Jeff.
I am a big fan of 'Shanghai Triad' and I never appreciated 'Blood Simple' as much as many, so I'm betting on this being really good...maybe even great or AMAZING.
Say hoooowhat?
Cfensi - You know the full casting?
The reported cast is Sun Honglei, Xiao Shenyang, Yan Ni, Ni Dahong, Ya Dan, and Cheng Ye. The first two Sun Honglei and Xiao Shenyang are definitely in this because there's pictures of them on set in Chinese media. I think people should know who Sun Honglei is (he's my favorite Chinese actor, and he's almost been able to give a great balance of dry humor and menace in his villain roles). Xiao Shenyang would be an unfamiliar name to western audiences, but he shot to fame early this year with a skit in the Chinese New Years Show (youtube it). Ya Dan was a girl in the same skit. Yan Ni should also be a great comedic actress because she was in My Own Swordsman, which is basically a series that is a brilliant farce of wuxia drama.
Oh, and this is period film. They are going to be in period costumes.