Discuss The Last Kiss
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How does this compare to the Italian version?
posted by rooprectSTAFFMOD on September 24, 2024 at 9:13 AM
Critics and audiences praised the original Italian version (73% & 79% on RT) while this remake was sorta slammed (46%, 59%). I haven't seen the original but I might try to hunt down a copy.
I mostly didn't like this, but the ending was really well done* and I liked most of the characters. The big problem is I really didn't like the story. It's your standard mid-life crisis yawner: 30-ish guy in a solid relationship suddenly freaks out at the idea of settling down, and then a hot young chick throws herself at him. If you think you know where it goes you're probably right.
But like I said, the characters made it work for me, and I was wondering if the Italian version did the same thing. One thing I've noticed about American films vs. European films is that the American films really sell the personalities (lots of closeups, facial expressions, humor) while European films are often driven by story, setting & circumstances (the bigger picture). If I'm right about that, then I think the American approach helps here. What really sold the movie to me was the young chick "Kim" (Rachel Bilson) because she wasn't just played as a 2-dimensional trampy homewrecker. Rachel managed to flesh out the character to seem human & likeable, even vulnerable herself, and if anything is the saving grace of a linear plot like this, it's the idea that each character is very human.
Which leads me to the performance which I think hurt the story: Zach Braff's low-energy, almost wooden performance as the tempted guy. I loved Zach in Garden State because that was more of a quirky comedy where his low-energy delivery played perfectly against Natalie Portman's manic pixie. But here he seems to sleepwalk through a chain of events, and that undermines the movie's core theme: that we humans make bad choices and must own up to them. Instead Zach comes across as a passive victim, and that reduces the story to just the story itself, which is pretty bland.
*I watched the alternate endings which tack on a sappy epilogue, and omg if ever a cutting room floor needed sweeping it was here! Glad they settled on the official version.
Reply by bratface
on September 24, 2024 at 5:06 PM
Here it is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T87DBMWAzhA
And according to the Wiki page there was a sequel released in 2010:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Kiss_(2001_film)
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/40817-baciami-ancora
Reply by rooprect
on September 24, 2024 at 7:49 PM
Thanks for that link. I didn't watch the whole thing, just skipped around to the main scenes, but I can see immediately that the original Italian version is way better. It's not as rom-comish... It doesn't have music telegraphing every scene, it doesn't try to inject comic relief every 5 mins, and the pivotal scene is really dark and heavy as it should be. The entire movie has a darker look, literally dark with lots of shadows and sparse lighting.
The American version seems to follow the original story pretty closely, almost scene for scene, except the American version changes one subtle but important part near the end that leads the last 10 mins in a different direction (which I really liked). BUT the Italian version has a cool mini twist at the end which had to be sacrificed.
Another big difference is the leading role. He is exactly the way the character should be, a bit neurotic and unpredictable, so it makes more sense how he could land himself in such a mess. I think the American version tries too hard to make him look like a good guy (mature and responsible) which clashes with the story.
Overall, I can see why the original Italian version scored so much higher.
Reply by bratface
on September 24, 2024 at 7:51 PM
You are welcome.
Reply by rooprect
on September 25, 2024 at 9:09 AM
I started watching the Italian version from the beginning and wow, it's leagues above the American remake. The Italian version interweaves all the stories in real time, often with 1 camera moving between different subplots without any cuts. These kinds of shots are really hard to pull off. Staging, choreography, camera, lighting & sound have to be in perfect lockstep otherwise the whole scene falls apart and they have to do it all over. Hitchcock & Orson Welles used this no-cut technique to great effect (Rope, Touch of Evil). The American version does none of this.
Here's an example of great filmmaking from the Italian version. It may be disorienting if you don't know the characters, but in context it's really cool to see the subplots forming in real time...
The Last Kiss (Italian) wedding scene 22:02 - 24:02
Reply by rooprect
on September 25, 2024 at 11:05 AM
ok last update, then maybe I'll post in the Italian movie thread.
This remake is the reason why the world makes fun of American remakes. After watching another 30-40 mins of the original, I can report that the American movie very noticeably dumbs down and softens everything that made the Italian movie so provocative.
For one thing, in the Italian version the young chick is very young, 18 years old and still in high school. The American version makes her a 3rd year college student, thus eviscerating the creep factor. But the creep factor is what makes the story work. Not saying it's a modern day Lolita, but definitely we're supposed to feel creepy vibes about the protagonist. He is not a good guy, and he's largely the one who's pursuing the girl, not the other way around with the American girl throwing herself at him.
Along the same lines, all the characters in the Italian version are deliberately flawed. The father is an outright jerk, unlike the American father who's supposed to be some wise man. Also the crazy friend is given a much clearer backstory that shows his own father's agonizing disease and family tensions over the failing business--all of which explains why the crazy friend is so crazy. The American version barely touches on his backstory, instead just inserting him as the crazy comic relief.
Bottom line, as much as the American filmmakers claim they're trying to avoid stereotypes (as they say in the DVD interviews), the American version is very much a stereotype-driven, cartoonish story. Characters are established as either good/bad, mature/crazy, serious/funny, and nobody crosses any lines. The Italian version shows everyone evenly, neither defending nor condemning them for their actions but showing that all humans have flaws.
If I were to have rated this version right after watching, I'd have given it maybe a 7, but after seeing (most of) the Italian version I'm dropping that to a 5. I still think the acting was great from a lot of the characters, but other than that.... This is basically the ABC afterschool version of a grown up movie.
Reply by bratface
on September 25, 2024 at 2:33 PM
Have you seen any of Muccino's other films? He's made quite a few, some Italian, some set in the US (Seven Pounds, The Pursuit of Happyness, etc.)?
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0610831/
I recognize the groom in that scene, seen a few of his movies.
Pierfrancesco Favino
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269419/?ref_=tt_cl_t_7
Reply by rooprect
on September 25, 2024 at 3:25 PM
No way, I loved Seven Pounds! It was the first time I took Will Smith seriously. Haven't seen anything else by Muccino, but if all his films take the same stylish approach I'll have to check them out. I'm an instant fan of any director who masters the 1-shot long take.
I haven't seen Favino in anything before, but I found him very likeable even though he's a minor character (so far. I'm only halfway through).