American remakes of international films can be hit or miss, and there seem to be two schools of thought on this topic: the attempted erasure of foreign cinema versus art imitating art. It’s no surprise Hollywood tells great stories, but Hollywood is also inspired by the great stories being told internationally. When a foreign film begins to receive commendation in its country of origin, the American film industry sees an opportunity for profitability with an American remake. Whether attempting to add to the story, take things in another direction, or just pay homage to a great piece of work, the hope is a remake will bring along some of the same success as its source material.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with driving for success, American remakes are generally disliked by audiences as they can be perceived as America's attempted elimination of international cinema. A good example of this is the Sandra Bullock film The Lake House of which most people are familiar, however, few know of the Korean film Il Mare that was the inspiration for the American remake. The other thought process is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and, in the case of American remakes, it may well prove true. Remakes certainly raise the visibility of lesser-known (to American audiences, that is) international films, as viewers who enjoyed the remake would naturally seek out the original thus bringing it to the attention of a viewer who might not have otherwise sought it out.
The bottom line is ingenuity is not a requirement to create a great piece of art. Not all remakes are garbage simply on the premise of being a retelling of someone else’s work. That said, certainly all original artworks deserve to be judged on their terms, as the original creator intended, without being overshadowed by the Americanized version.
8 La Cage Aux Folles
La Cage Aux Folles is a 1978 French farce based on Jean Poiret’s play of the same name. It tells the story of a gay couple who own a glitzy drag club in St. Tropez. Hilarious high jinx ensues when owner Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and star performer Albin (Michel Serrault) agree to play straight when their son brings home his ultra-conservative soon-to-be in-laws. La Cage Aux Folles inspired a popular American remake in 1996 titled The Birdcage starring the late Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. The film is so popular it was even re-released in theatres for Pride month in 2021.
7 Il Mare
Il Mare (which means “the sea”) is a Korean Film released in 2000, it stars Lee Jung-jae from Netflix’s Squid Game, as a lonely man living in a lakeside house. Jun Ji-hyun stars as a similarly lonely woman living in the same house two years later. The two discover they can communicate with each other through time by leaving letters in the mailbox and, eventually, the pair fall in love. The 2006 film The Lake House was inspired by Il Mare and stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The original film is said to lack the timeline inconsistencies that were found in the remake.
6 Wings of Desire
Wings of Desire was released in 1987 and is one of Germany’s finest films. It is set in Berlin and chronicles the tale of Damien (the late Bruno Ganz) a guardian angel who can hear the thoughts—fears, hopes, dreams–of everyone in the city. When he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist named Marion (Solveig Dommartin), he gives up his immortality to be with her. Wings of Desire inspired a lackluster American remake by Brad Silberling in 1998 called City of Angels. The remake stars Meg Ryan opposite Nicolas Cage. While the premise was similar, subtle artistic choices diminished the magic of the original.
5 Abre Los Ojos
Abre Los Ojos, which is Spanish for "Open Your Eyes," follows the story of Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) a narcissistic womanizer who becomes disfigured in a car accident after one of his spurned lovers attempts to kill him. After the disfigurement, Cesar falls into a deep depression. From then on, it is hard to distinguish dream from reality as the film descends through a series of mysterious events explaining Cesar’s current circumstance. Cameron Crowe's 2001 Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz was inspired by Abre Los Ojos and follows the same plot. Similar to Crowe's remake of Wings of Desire, subtle nuance changes affected the intended tone of the film when compared to the source material. Incidentally, starring as Sofia, Cruz plays the same character in both the original and the remake.
4 Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In is a 2008 Swedish film based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 novel of the same name. It is a vampire thriller centering around the friendship between a young boy named Oskar (Kare Hedebrant), who is bullied at school, and a strange and secretive girl named Eli (Lena Leandersson). The film inspired an American remake titled Let Me In in 2010, which didn’t stray far from the original and according to Vanity Fair was well-executed.
3 Funny Games
Funny Games is a 1997 Austrian psychological thriller that follows the story of a pair of disturbed young men (Arno Frisch & Frank Giering), who entertain themselves by tormenting a family with sadistic, and torturous “games”. The film was remade shot for shot in 2008 by Michael Haneke (who also directed the original). Despite the movies sharing the same sequence of events, the original is far more terrifying than the remake, perhaps due to the absence of any recognizable stars, so you can’t fall back on the comfort of "it’s only a movie." The original was also a social commentary on the consumption of violence throughout American audiences. The remake stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and Michael Pitt.
2 La Totale!
La Totale! Is a 1991 French spy-comedy directed by Claude Zidi. It chronicles the seemingly boring life of telecommunications specialist Francois Voisin (Thierry Lhermitte). Francois, however, is living a double life as a secret agent. The plot thickens when Francois’s dissatisfied wife Helene (Miou-Miou) seeks some adventure of her own. The film inspired James Cameron’s 1994 successful action film True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. The remake has also inspired a TV series pilot currently in development at CBS.
1 La Jetée
La Jetée is a 1962 French dystopian short film. It tells the tale of a man who travels back and forth through time on a perilous mission to save the world. It is made up almost entirely of still photographs and has a runtime of 28 minutes, but it is one of the most powerful foreign films ever made. It was the inspiration behind 12 Monkeys starring Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, and Madelaine Stowe, which borrowed several ideas from the original time travel featurette.