I finally saw the live Lilo and Stitch. It was good but I think the original animated one (and its sequels, and the animated series) was better. There was one addition I did like—
—David’s grandmother who lives nearby and who becomes very important to the plot—
—but I still think most changes detracted rather than added to the live-action version. Zach Galifinaikas (sp?) in a regular US accent voice is no David Ogden Stiers in a booming semi-Russian accent, and Jumba is not the same character in the end, sadly to me. There is no Gantu, etc. And there is no scene in which
Stitch reads a picture book about a lost duckling and relates to it and it’s just heart-rending to see how alone he feels
And that sort of thing. Again, it’s still a good movie, and I do like the additional character.
Oh, and alas we don’t get to see
Pleakley’s penchant for drag, though the director said he wanted to include it, and kept asking, but was told no, which is a shame.
I just watched L'assassinat du Père Noël (1941)(English title: "Who Killed Santa Claus?").
The movie was produced by "Continental Films" which has something of a bad reputation. It was a French film studio sponsored by German money in Occupied France to make films that the Nazis would allow. Its job was to make entertaining films to delight the French while they were occupied by Nazi forces. Those involved often get tagged with the "collaborator" label--which is a bit rich considering that one of the lead actors in this move was tortured to death by the Gestapo a few months after the film was made. Must be some definition of "collaborating" that I was not previously aware of.
Having said all that, please forget it. Watching the movie on its own merits, ignorant of the background, it truly is a delightful feature. Set in a remote French village, we have a kindly mapmaker (well, globe-maker, really) who always play the part of Father Christmas for the village. There is a Crazy Cat Lady looking for her cat, Mistou. She is mocked by children, but treated gently by the adults. There are the children of the village and their schoolteacher, and one bedridden child. And then there is the surprise return of "the Baron" after ten years--with rumors that he has some dread disease. Plague? Leprosy? And early on in the film, the local priest is assaulted, presumably to try to steal the valuable "ring of St. Nicholas" from the church.
The movie is funny, charming, mysterious ("Father Christmas" is killed two-thirds of the way through), suspenseful and ultimately endearing. Ignore its murky history and watch it for its own sake. It is worth it.
Comments
—but I still think most changes detracted rather than added to the live-action version. Zach Galifinaikas (sp?) in a regular US accent voice is no David Ogden Stiers in a booming semi-Russian accent, and Jumba is not the same character in the end, sadly to me. There is no Gantu, etc.
And that sort of thing. Again, it’s still a good movie, and I do like the additional character.
Oh, and alas we don’t get to see
The movie was produced by "Continental Films" which has something of a bad reputation. It was a French film studio sponsored by German money in Occupied France to make films that the Nazis would allow. Its job was to make entertaining films to delight the French while they were occupied by Nazi forces. Those involved often get tagged with the "collaborator" label--which is a bit rich considering that one of the lead actors in this move was tortured to death by the Gestapo a few months after the film was made. Must be some definition of "collaborating" that I was not previously aware of.
Having said all that, please forget it. Watching the movie on its own merits, ignorant of the background, it truly is a delightful feature. Set in a remote French village, we have a kindly mapmaker (well, globe-maker, really) who always play the part of Father Christmas for the village. There is a Crazy Cat Lady looking for her cat, Mistou. She is mocked by children, but treated gently by the adults. There are the children of the village and their schoolteacher, and one bedridden child. And then there is the surprise return of "the Baron" after ten years--with rumors that he has some dread disease. Plague? Leprosy? And early on in the film, the local priest is assaulted, presumably to try to steal the valuable "ring of St. Nicholas" from the church.
The movie is funny, charming, mysterious ("Father Christmas" is killed two-thirds of the way through), suspenseful and ultimately endearing. Ignore its murky history and watch it for its own sake. It is worth it.