Around the World in 80 Days – Oscar Winner 1956
It is not surprising that recently quite some movies were produced which retell old stories. Around the World in 80 Days is such a movie. First shot in 1956 got a remake in 2004. The reason is obvious; no film is timeless, but always reflects the state of mind of the audience, directors and producers. It would simply be not enough for a 21st century film consumer to watch some picturesque landscapes pepped up with orchestral background music. Jules Verne had a beautiful story to tell, one of his best, without doubt. 20.000 Miles under the Sea, The Journey to the Middle of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days will be in forever in our collective memory; but the movies made out of this plot have to be adapted to the respective audience. For a 2005 spectator – apart from boredom - remains the psycho-sociological insight that people in 1961 were different than they are now: common knowledge and stimulation thresholds were incomparably lower. That’s nothing bad per se, but shows that we Zeitgenossen don’t fit into such a screening and vice versa. [kw, 041105, 22:50]
It is not surprising that recently quite some movies were produced which retell old stories. Around the World in 80 Days is such a movie. First shot in 1956 got a remake in 2004. The reason is obvious; no film is timeless, but always reflects the state of mind of the audience, directors and producers. It would simply be not enough for a 21st century film consumer to watch some picturesque landscapes pepped up with orchestral background music. Jules Verne had a beautiful story to tell, one of his best, without doubt. 20.000 Miles under the Sea, The Journey to the Middle of the Earth and Around the World in 80 Days will be in forever in our collective memory; but the movies made out of this plot have to be adapted to the respective audience. For a 2005 spectator – apart from boredom - remains the psycho-sociological insight that people in 1961 were different than they are now: common knowledge and stimulation thresholds were incomparably lower. That’s nothing bad per se, but shows that we Zeitgenossen don’t fit into such a screening and vice versa. [kw, 041105, 22:50]