Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Good Morning, World


Speak of the devil -- the Rebecca remake is on Netflix now! And already I'm a pain because "remake" really isn't the right word -- it's a new adaptation of the book by Daphne du Maurier, really.  I saw it last night and there are pieces of the book included that Alfred Hitchcock wasn't allowed to touch due to the Hayes Code. But I won't get into specifics because spoilers -- just know we're not talking about a hot make-out sesh between Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca's Ghost or anything. Ben Wheatley made a very PG movie here -- the skin you see here is the most we get from Armie, which is to say not much. But he looks grandly manly stomping around in his big corduroy suits all the same, and that can be enough.

Anyway, the movie, you ask? It's okay! I don't think anybody should feel embarrassed by this, and really that was the biggest fear. It's gorgeously filmed -- like, impossibly so at times. The color palette is surprising and probably the best thing going on -- kind of a Peach Noir, if you will. The film definitely drags on too long at two hours, as some strict-to-book adaptations often do, but given the state of The World I didn't mind getting lost in this gorgeous world among these gorgeous people for that time. My boyfriend looked at his phone at one point and started to say something with the word "Trump" involved and I snapped for him to shush -- I was in an exquisite other-place trance. A perfume commercial with skeletons. It's nice! Anyway hit the jump for a couple more Armie gifs I made...
  

4 comments:

Pierce said...

How does it compare to the Masterpiece production that starred Charles Dance with Diana Rigg as Mrs. Danvers? That was a superb production.

Jason Adams said...

Pierce -- I have not seen that one!

Pierce said...

I think it's on YouTube. I just watched it recently to honor Diana Rigg after her passing. Faye Dunaway is the American and she's rather fun. Geraldine James is the bride in that production and Rigg is brilliant.

Having said that, I'm not overly impressed by this. It seems terribly slow and is lacking the spirit of the piece. Still, I'm going to stay with it. Scott Thomas is walking away with the show. I think every Mrs. Danvers does.

mcfrank said...

Pierce:

I just sampled snippets from Part 1. It looks OK, but at two hours for the first half it drags on even more than the Netflix version. It's no surprise though that Dance handles Max's mercurial moods a bit better than Hammer. Or am I too wedded to Olivier's brutishness?

However, I did definitely perk up when I saw (and heard) Ian McDiarmid presiding over the inquest.