Kermode Uncut: Toni Erdmann

[@flodworks6942]

A key ingredient to the humour of Toni Erdmann is the fact that it is in German. Germans and the German language are quite straight-cutting, blunt, and (forgive the stereotype) efficient. The contrast between the dialogue and the personae of the people speaking it in Toni Erdmann adds to the comedic flavour of the film. It's the same with La Haine. Could you imagine that film not in French?

[@ciaran.vallely]

Dragon Tattoo was not a remake of the Swedish Version. It was an English adaptation of the book. We wouldn't call every film based on Shakespeare a remake. They are different versions of the same source material.

[@iceboxner]

Nothing infuriates me more when people will dismiss a movie simply because they will have to read subtitles.

[@RobotPorter]

"The Departed" was a remake of a foreign film. It also starred Nicholson. Worked out okay. Won that goldy statue thingie. And Mr. Kermode liked it, calling "it more than just a remake". This could be that as well.

[@magisterartium]

hahahahahahahaha

[@Emin3mSlimShadyD12]

Infernal Affairs had room for improvement however. Toni Erdmann is all around great. Doesn't need improving. Also I doubt that It's going to be directed by someone of a Scorsese caliber.

[@Wapaz]

One good remake doesn't make all other remakes great. Kermode is right that most English-language remakes are not great.

[@cjknotty]

I'm with you Mark.

[@taliaprice1909]

thank you Kermode. I agree with you!

[@taurinserotonin9994]

If someone doesn't like subtitles, they shouldn't watch movies at all

[@silent-trouble]

Actually I don't entirely agree. I do watch subtitled films regularly but I think it actually has a big disadvantage. Cause I love to look all around the frame, I love to watch the facial expressions of the actors and actresses and catch the details. That is - at least for me - not always possible when your eyes are constantly focused on the lower part of the screen reading. Still what is even worse is for example a bad overdub and of course you often can't recreate the "tone", wordplays and whatever you wanna call it... But I am kind of in the middle on that issue, since I think there are arguments for both sides. Or learn a new language^^. Aside of that. Absolutely against the remake ;)

[@tactictoe]

You could watch it more than once...

[@simianinc]

Fincher's Dragon Tattoo was far superior. It wasn't a remake of the original movie, but a proper cinematic adaptation of the source novel.

[@AjeethRajesh]

The father in this movie looks like a cross between John Malkovich and Jack Nicholson. Seems like perfect casting imo

[@liampendergast8670]

I've not seen Toni Erdmann yet but the kicker for me is hearing the stories that Train to Busan one of my favorite movies of last year is getting an English remake. It's so sad knowing there's a whole world of amazing and wonderful films out there of all genres and countries and so many people will never discover them cause it's not in English.

[@TroysFilmClub]

In his first review he said the running time was 2 3/4 hours long (its 2 hours, 35 minutes). Now he says it's a 3 HOUR GERMAN COMEDY (it's still just 2 hours, 35 minutes).

[@harveypenson1028]

I have the seen the film yet but really want to, and after hearing Mark's review and hearing about this, I could feel the pain.

[@railcatcher2]

Yes Mr. Kermode, you are absolutely, positively right!!

[@BazookaJRambo]

I feel the same way about the Ghostbusters remake. And Kristin Wiig was in that too... :D

[@akh851]

totally agree!

[@FormerHumanX]

True Lies was a remake and it was great.

[@interstellar1962]

Indeed Mark! I mean, who in their right mind could enjoy an English language remake of À bout de souffle? ;)

[@tactictoe]

Well done Hollywood for dropping all pretense and admitting that you're all out of ideas.

[@olivermcerlean2635]

It's doomed to fail. On a side note, the English subtitles on the version I saw were translated evidently by a Francophone, the giveaway being someone in the story being stood up and the subtitles saying something unintelligible about posing a rabbit.

[@Starzagal]

Kinda agree but still super excited that Jack was so enthused he called up Paramount of his own accord after Iike a decade of hibernation to suggest he return to the screen

[@ottopotomas]

exactly! not even been out for 6 months. ENTIRELY superfluous. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY oh. money. my bad.

[@dapperebas1645]

just put it on my to watch list. The german version. As a dutchie never have a problem with subtitles. Sometimes even miss them dearly in dutch movies when the actors are whispering or there is a war going on.

[@ishaantiwari]

I totally agree with everything you said but the Fincher remake was brilliant IMO

[@SmithsSmitten]

Wait till he learns that McG! has been rumored to helm the project

[@freaklives]

US producers cater to short attention spans. Films with subtitles don't allow people to check their phones or look around, you actually have to WATCH the film. I started going to the cinema during the day just to avoid teens who talk or text until an action scene comes along and I've never been happier. The US version will never have that runtime either - same problem; they feel they have to pander to the ADD generation. It'll be 100mins max.

[@Biring1]

What are they gonna call it? Tony Evans? Is she from California and works in Milwaukee?

[@LordRaa]

You say that there's nothing wrong with it, but there's no way the Petite Fours scene will garner anything other than an NC-17 rating for the film.

[@drayman1968]

Nikita is another film that was ruined when Hollywood got hold of it. The original was a raw, warts and all story that had me hooked from the second I walked in on it being shown on the TV late at night. What language it was in didn`t matter, the subtitles just meant I had to work a bit by reading to follow the story, but the story was so good that the subtitles added to the overall charm of the movie. Personally, I cant see how they could possibly improve on the original, as the original was so good in the first place, so the only way is down from that.

[@garyfenlon5769]

Don't get me wrong i think remakes are usually a bad idea, but if we get some more Jack Nicholson then i'm all for it, Jack Nicholson has given us so many great film's, Batman, The Shining, The Pledge, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Departed, Prizzi's Honor and my favourite The Last Detail to name but a few. There will never be another like Jack Nicholson, and when he's gone the world will be a sadder place.

[@_McCullochDavid]

Lion is one of the best films of the year, and with the entire first hour you are reading subtitles. Are they gonna bother remaking that?

[@xaviertapia7846]

Same with the french movie The Intouchables, why god why?!

[@justmadeit2]

Mark Kermode is a legend, what he doesnt know about films isnt worth knowing ! I recently wrote a poem about him, its in good humour, so dont take it so seriously !!. If you want to see it, its in my recent up loads :)

[@jonburkitt4152]

[REC] remade into Quarantine, shot for shot remake, only change; English speaking actors, and it was pants. Watch [REC] save yourself.

[@KenaHerod]

While I love Jack Nicholson especially in About Schmitt and As Good as It Gets that nearly convinces me JN could pull off a "Toni" (or I guess will be "Tony") in English (provided a decent screenplay was written), Oh no, please don't (I don't dislike Kristen Wigg but she's not at the level of Sandra Huller). Toni Erdmann Oscar-nominated was perfect! So perfect, my 15 year old daughter (admittedly having trained in filmmaking a lot at TIFF) LOVED IT and said to me that it was the first time she really heard the audience laughing aloud (while she was too) during a screening! And, I was a wicked mother and didn't tell her the running time beforehand (long story short, we were supposed to have seen a different film but tix only for adults for that but I had read the reviews of Toni before so we were able to get it into Toni...). Anyway, after the film, when I revealed how long the film was, my daughter couldn't believe it! Toni Erdmann is that good! I really fear Hollywood's hand in remaking this. Thanks, Mark Kermode for your thoughts on this and support of Toni Erdmann when it came out because otherwise 2 gals, mother and daughter, in Canada wouldn't have seen it otherwise!

[@ChrisH78]

one of the major signs that someone is an idiot is they don't like foreign films because of subtitles. I have subtitles on most English films nowadays because I'm so used to having subtitles on for the foreign films I enjoy.

[@holmbjerg]

I'm okay with this one for the sole reason that it will bring Jack Nicholson out of retirement.

[@underreppin]

I don't understand the hate Mark, this is not being remade for the people who have seen the original. This is being remade for an American audience. How many American cinema goers would sit through a 3 hour German movie with subtitles? I would guess zero. So to me it makes perfect sense to remake it in the English language

[@johnalcock2349]

Release it in a subbed AND a dubbed version. See which appeals most. What's wrong with a GOOD dubbing anyway?

[@nicklockk]

I am German, and EVERYTHING here gets dubbed. I really don't get the problem those Burgerland people have with dubbing.

[@nicklockk]

Folgemilch21 Well I think most of the time it improves the movie. It can make up for terribel and mediocre acting, because professionel voice actors re-do the lines. Of course there are dubs that arent good. But so are line deliveries.

[@nicklockk]

Thats not an argument :/

[@BastiansChannel]

Dubs can (and will) also destroy good acting, so that's a really bad trade-off. At least for me, since I try not to watch movies with terrible acting in the first place.

[@nicklockk]

Yes thats also true, but i am talking the average acting in a blockbuster is most of the time worse than the voice acting

[@Sunomis]

They should remake Parasite now.

[@michaelstephenson427]

While I agree that most foreign language films really do not need a remake, am I the only one who thinks Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is actually better than the original? Maybe because those films are based on such a successful book we're more willing to accept a remake unlike something like Oldboy or Toni Erdmann. I'm aware that Oldboy was a manga but Spike Lee's film seems to be more a remake of the original than a new interpretation on an original source material.

[@KaiderKiller]

As far as i know Michael Haneke wanted to set the original Funny Games in the US but couldn't afford it budgetwise. So once he got the chance, he did it. The US version is not unanimously regarded as worse. The film is by its premise a very controversial piece of cinema and the key complaint is that it is a remake. Rarely do I see a critique regarding it's quality being inferior to the original. Plus he gained skill and experience within the 10 years in between making them, so he could provide a more competent rendition.

[@moosemush]

*claps*

[@Littleangel47]

oh Mark- marry me!!! lol

[@number94]

Functional illiteracy is very common in the English-speaking world.

[@tenteangeorge3071]

And when you think about "Passion of the Christ" being the highest grossing non-English speaking movie of all time, at least for now anyway, you could use that to validate the needlessness for remakes in English.

[@carolineh1845]

Why are they remaking it? Simple really. 1. A Hollywood star's vanity 2. $$$$ 3. Er, there is no 3. I take the point thought that virtually every single English remake has been worse that the original, especially the Hollywood remakes. That said, if they do remake it, it would probably get more people watching the original as well. The downside of subtitled films is that I find I have to watch them twice as the first time, you're staring at the subtitles are miss out of the subtle facial expressions, details in the scene etc, because that's not where your eyes are focusing.

[@dmtree__]

Besides, Bill Murray seems like a better fit for the role anyways IMO.

[@olivermcerlean2635]

It was the best movie of the year, and one factor in its greatness is the very fact that it IS in German, that as an anglophone I'm OBLIGED to really focus on it, this focus providing the deep joy of the experience. Besides, they'll edit it down to 90 minutes and add some silly soundtrack.

[@xxHopeyHopexx]

This is such an irritating, tired argument (I say this as an audiovisual translator myself). Cinema is universal. Yes, American cinema might plunder more from other world cinemas than those world cinemas do from it, but it is a two way street and no single national film industry has a monopoly on certain stories. Adapting a 'foreign' film from any one language/culture into another is not crass appropriation. At worst, it's just bandwagon jumping for money, borne out of a lack of solid original scripts. People in English-speaking countries generally don't like reading subtitles because they don't grow up studying and listening to foreign languages in an unquestioned, socially intrinsic way, whereas people in many other cultures are lucky enough to be exposed to foreign languages from a young age and don't care if they need to read subtitles or watch dubbed films, they are simply lucky enough to be used to it. Tired of hearing this same 'debate' over and over and people chastising English-speaking culture by ignoring context.

[@juliamaxfalcon5483]

I hate the idea of this remake. I can't think of one good reason to do it. Is it really that hard to read subtitles Americans?

[@MrJohncastillo1]

you're not a true film fan if you can't watch films that are not in English.. yes The Departed was good but was it much better than Infernal Affairs? No I tend to prefer Infernal Affairs.. the laziness of mostly American viewers about reading subtitles is stupid.

[@SW-by9ob]

I fail to understand the annoyance and lack of understanding as to why films are remade TBH. A poor remake in no way detracts from the original film or your enjoyment of it and in many cases can actually push more people towards seeking it out. Lets face it, when you have a country that's so insular they vote Trump as their President, do you really think they're going to watch a foreign import with subtitles? Assuming they can even read..

[@mossyboy185]

You want to be here in Spain. EVERY English language film is dubbed into Spanish ! The Spanish seemingly unable to read subtitles. As an Englishman here I find it hilarious but also a bit tragic. The Spanish people are getting a different film with different performances. Sadly, the dubbing industry employs hundreds of people so it´s not going to change anytime soon.

[@oliverraven]

Five years ago I saw a subtitled version of 'The Iron Lady' at a Spanish cinema. A few months later, that cinema closed down and I had to go to a different one in order to watch 'Avengers Assemble'... which was dubbed.

[@mossyboy185]

I have to admit that there is one cinema in my city that shows V.O. films (version original) but it´s privately owned and only shows a small number. Of course, the other tragic consequence is that you get the same few actors voicing multiple stars so the guy who plays Tom Hanks for example , also plays De Niro.....

[@MWeistra]

I found Toni Erdmann waaay too long and not very funny (or dramatic). The were a few great scenes and the actors were good. But it never moved me or made me laugh.

[@stepheningermany]

It's for thick americans

[@LordJagd]

My response to this is what he mentioned in the video: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It takes a bit more departures from the source material but it ended up being one of the best films of that year because of the people behind it. Rooney Mara, Davide Fincher, and Trent Reznor created a terrific film and while my knee-jerk reaction to hearing there is a remake in the works of a successful foreign film is to groan, hearing Nicholson is not only involved but is pushing for the film to be made sounds to good to pass on just because it's an American remake.