Alfie

[tartanwiz]

Was there any need to make a remake of the 1960s classic starring Michael Kane? (I haven't seen the new one yet so I can't compare). Is there a difference? (Don't worry about spoiling it for me. Just tell me).

[seal!]

there is never a "need" to make a film, somebody just wanted to make it, so they did.

[kempie]

I believe it is both cheaper and easier for film studios to rehash titles they already own even if the result bears no resemblance to the original.  Most remakes end up as new films with old titles.

[andy hughes]

I haven't seen the re-make, but I would suggest that the original was very much of its time - a jack-the-lad preying on guilible women was considered daring and sexy inthe 1960's - the concept wouldn't get house-room in modern society - which is probably why it flopped. Some films are a comment on the era in which they were set, which happens to be the era in which they were made - modern day if you will. Look a 'Brief Encounter' - fantastic film, because it is of its time - a re-make would be a pointles flop. Maybe I have a future as a movie producer?

[johngammon]

I disagree with Andy Hughes. The original film version of Alfie (like the radio play and the two novels about the character) was highly critical of the jack the lad mentality, and showed how the "free love" atmosphere that was creeping in during the late 1950s and early 1960s was almost entirely to the expense of women. It was because Michael Caine was such an attractive figure in the movie that you saw how the likes of him could prey on weak women, but the film is clear that there's a new woman appearing on the scene (Shelley Winters) who cannot be had.

I simply don't think that modern Hollywood film is as critical of our society or its attitudes, and so the new version pulls its punches.  I also think we're not so critical about ourselves in general in this era and we're terrified of causing offence, which is why you often hear amusing but fluffy works such as Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives touted as feminist masterpieces.

There are plenty of Alfies around today, but they would have needed to totally reinvent the plot for a remake to work. Ever seen the kind of guy who lives with a woman, goes out on a Saturday night, picks up some drunken 15 year old pretending to be 21 and f*cks her in the club loo at the end of the evening?