Remake in 2010

Jim Sheridan, director of Get Rich or Die Tryin’, My Left Foot and Boxer, is planning on an adaptation of Ikiru starring Tom Hanks. Who else just cried a little?

I hope that’s a joke!!!!

I just joined the Auteurs (this site looks pretty promising so far).

I recently watched Ikiru and the DVD commentary (which is excellent btw) and I can’t get over how powerful and real this film is.

The reality of isolation and social disconnect that only imminent death can bring, is conveyed well on so many different levels. Takashi Shimura gives an incredibly poignant and mature performance (the scene where the piano player takes song requests and Watanabe-san gives him his), instilling all the qualities of a man who knows his fate and can’t bring himself to confront all his regrets.

If you’ve ever known anyone suffering from cancer or struggling with death, it gives you chills when you realize how much this film evokes those same types of emotions. It breaks your heart to see someone going, yet all you want to do is hold on.

I would go so far as to saying this may be his best film, if not his most poignant.

It’s quite sad that people feel they need to remake this film because it is such a strong film in itself and you can’t retain those great qualities simply just by redoing them.

while you can make a case for remakes in general, this one just seems… obnoxiously superfluous, seeing as how the film is already so fantastic. the only good thing about this is that it definitely is a movie they can’t dilute. In other words, no matter how awful the remake is, it won’t hurt how great the original is.

Josh, I agree and I too am glad that no matter what happens, Ikiru will remain a great film and perhaps its popularity will increase with the new exposure of a remake.

I would still watch the remake though, as I find I would be too interested in their portrayal of the film not to.

The one thing that bothers me though, is that if Jim Sheridan understood the historical and social complex that the film exists in (post-war Japan), especially pertaining to how the government operated, then he would undoubtedly see how the remake would be extremely flawed.

David, I think I’ll have to see it as well, if only for that ‘car-crash’ impulse. With the current political climate being so radically different, and the cultural gap of being set in North America, I can’t imagine it coming close. But once again, when it’s in theaters, I’ll be there. Cringing.

the concept of a tom hanks-led remake of ikuru has been floating around for years now, i have just always figured it was a nasty rumour! besides bill murray would be much better than hanks.

Yeah, Kurosawa remakes are never really that special, probably because we love the originals so much it’s almost impossible to give a new interpretation a fair shake. Or because they usually just stink in comparison; I can’t see a modern version of “Ikiru” being any different, but like everyone else says, it’ll be interesting to see, if it happens, if just for comparisons sake. Btw, I haven’t seen “Ikiru” in nearly two years, even though I’ve seen it plenty, it’s a film I always love coming back to, and never fail to be moved by the scene of Shimura on the swingset, light snowfall, before his death. Amazingly poignant stuff.

Okay, just remakes in general- rumored in the pipeline are Fantastic Voyage, Overboard, Real Genius, House Party, Look Who’s Talking, Monster Squad, etc, etc, etc.3333333333333333

Oh MAN! Academy awards, here comes Living.