Emma Thompson penning the "My Fair Lady" re-make- Page 2

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 2:26pm

I was talking generally, which is why i used the word 'One'. Not, 'You'.

Apologies, I will edit.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 2:27pm

My friend told me that Pygmalion is supposed to have sexual tension between Eliza and Higgins if directed properly and that, though Shaw just chose to ignore it, that doesn't mean that it isn't present.

husk_charmer: Oh, I did not know that. Guess I won't blame Emma Thompson for P&P after all.

[roquat]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 2:59pm

Shaw definitely intended an unspoken attraction between Higgins and Eliza--he just didn't intend it to be resolved the way it is in the musical.

The MY FAIR LADY movie is far from a "masterpiece". It's stiff, stagy, and too long. Audrey Hepburn is fine post-transformation, but her Cockney impression is very bad, and the inappropriately polished Marni Nixon vocals are jarring in a way that they aren't in the WEST SIDE STORY and KING AND I movies.

As for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Emma Thompson is hardly the first writer to take her name off a project that had become an embarrassment to her. Robert Towne did the same thing on GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES, as did F. Scott Fitzgerald on a score of old-Hollywood movies (in which he was employed as a hack, basically.)

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 3:16pm

The sexual overtones may be a directorial choice, but there are none to speak of in the play itself. Shaw saw Higgins as devoted to a) himself, b) the English language, and c) his mother, with little chance that Eliza was anything more than an interesting project and a convenient house guest who would find his slippers and order his coffee. It's not that he loves her - he doesn't even know her. That was the element that was added in the musical - the warmth and affection. Higgins himself doesn't really relate to anyone well except mom and to some extent Pickering (and only because Pickering shares his love of language and phonetics, otherwise he'd be selling flowers, too).

[philcrosby]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 3:27pm

I will take what Keen on Kean says and take it a step further. MY FAIR LADY is in no way PYGMALION. The events and even a lot of the dialogue are the same, but MY FAIR LADY is a romance, and PYGMALION is not. There is a romance between Higgins and Eliza in FAIR LADY that is explicit, and to deny it, denies what Lerner wrote.

Trevor Nunn botched the ending in the current revival, because he chose to go with PYGMALION and not FAIR LADY as written.

Emma Thompson is a brilliant writer, but I think she may be going down the wrong path if she injects more Shaw into the proceedings.
Updated On: 7/20/08 at 03:27 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 4:23pm

I, too, don't view remakes as different from revivals. It's a chance for a new creative team to tackle a piece. I would be thrilled to see some of our great directors tackle some of the classics.

Example: Cabaret is a great film, but I would love to see Mendes and/or Marshall bring their revival to the screen.

[me2]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 5:29pm

I'm sure she'll do swell, though I would worry about tampering with a classic. There is a BIG difference from doing an adaptation and changing it to be how YOU want it.
Broadway Mouth: Took a Chance on It: Mamma Mia! on Screen

[degrassifan]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 8:04pm

First, I would like to say that in my opinion, there are few remakes that are better than the original. I may be in the minority here, but I love the 1999 version of "Annie" much more than the original from 1982.

Secondly, as much as I like the original "My Fair Lady," I'm very excited to see what the remake will be like. I want to see if my generation will embrace something like "My Fair Lady." I've always wondered how well these classic movie musicals would do if they were made in the 21st century.

Thirdly, Emma Thompson is a brilliant writer. I loved "Sense and Sensibilty," and personally, I love the 2005 version of "Pride & Prejudice." Although uncredited, she does receive a "Special Thanks" credit at the end of the film.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 8:26pm

I'm not opposed to a remake of the musical, but why not remake the 1938 PYGMALION film? It was the inspiration for MY FAIR LADY, more so than the original play -- and it doesn't require singing.

Frankly, I've become disillusioned with the latest movie musical adaptations, and the imprudent practice of casting non-singers in the roles.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 7/20/08 at 10:01pm

I hate to sound like David Mamet's characters in Speed-the-Plow (which I just read in preparation for October 3), but they will not remake PYGMALION because no one will pay to see a remake of PYGMALION. I love it (PYGMALION and the movie) but who would go see it now? 18 year old boys? 65 year old women? No, not even them. So it is the public's familiarity with the musical version that makes the remake of the musical possible, not (sadly) the strength of the original, even with the best possible rewrite by Emma Thompson. Or David Mamet.

[Brick]

Posted: 7/21/08 at 2:42am

I'm excited.