Why Some Cross-Cultural Film Remakes Fail and Others Succeed

Cross-cultural film remakes are more common than we think. A lot of our favourite films can actually turn out to be a remake from some niche foreign film. From The Departed to The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, or Ghajini to Kabir Singh, they are all based on a film from a different culture. While some of them adapt the concept and themes without blatant plagiarism or disrespect… others are more questionable.

Why some remakes work

So what makes a good remake. Well, let’s look at Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. This is a film that was based on Infernal Affairs, a crime thriller set in Hong Kong. Scorsese used the mean streets of Boston to appropriately adapt the theme of the film. He also made his characters that much different to not only suit the culture but to also offer something new to the audience. When the cultural context changes, so does the story. And Scorsese knew that, making changes accordingly.

Then there’s The Ring, adapted from the Japanese horror classic, Ringu. Instead of just swapping out the Japanese ghosts for American ones, the filmmaker changed the urban legend core to fit the American idea of isolation and technology. This resulted in offering something new to the audience which gained success across the board.

What makes a remake fail

So why do so many others fail? The Hindi remake of Forrest Gump, Laal Singh Chaddha, failed not only at the box office but also with critics. While it took the core storyline, it failed to adapt it to India’s culture the way Forrest Gump had portrayed American culture. The original Forrest Gump bravely tackled serious American issues including racism, the Vietnam War and anti-war movements, through the eyes of a white protagonist.

Laal Singh Chaddha, in contrast, avoided many sensitive topics in Indian history to feel “non-controversial”. It missed the bite and social commentary of the original, going the safer route, for an ordinary Bollywood treatment.

Spike Lee’s Oldboy is another example of how a remake can go wrong. This adaptation made little effort to adapt the Korean film to an American context, with even some scenes being kept as they were. Culturally iconic moments in the original were not meant to be shown as they were again, audiences what something new. It ended up being an almost shot for shot remakes that left fans and critics unimpressed.

The art of cultural adaptation in storytelling

Stories can travel across cultures, there is no doubt about that. Think about mythology. Every country, culture, have their own stories. But they’re all borrowed yet they feel new to each of them. That’s how films need to be adapted. There is a way to go about remaking a film across cultures and offering something new to the audience. It’s up to the filmmaker to put some effort and create something new.

#FilmRemakes, #CrossCulturalCinema, #TheDeparted, #Ringu, #KabirSingh