Around the World in 80 Days
When you claim to be a film buff, people are constantly bugging you to watch all the classics. Fifteen years after declaring myself a cinema major in college, I finally got around to watching Around the World in Eighty Days, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1956.
Based on the novel by Jules Verne, the movie tells the story of Phileas Fogg, whose stiff upper lip and obsession with precision are both tested when, on a bet, he sets out to prove that "modern" technology and transportation routes (from the perspective of the characters in 1872) would enable a man to travel around the world in a mere eighty days. Charming and suave as ever, David Niven is the perfect choice to play Fogg. His traveling companion and ostensible sidekick, Passepartout, is played by comedian Cantinflas, who, at the time, was such a huge star in Mexico that his celebrity had made him the richest actor in the world. Niven's effortlessly pitch-perfect performance as Fogg is, in fact, often overshadowed by Cantinflas, who gets most of the best scenes in the film.
The movie clearly got a re-write after Cantinflas was cast, to emphasize his particular talents. Cantinflas gets to clown, dance, and play verbal word games, while Fogg's role is alternately reduced to that of an observer, or even written out of the scene entirely. The most notable example is an extended bullfighting scene, which showcases the comedian's expertise in the sport. The scene goes on a bit too long, but it's worth it, as Cantinflas, who stays in character even as he plays the game in expert fashion, is still mesmerizing 53 years later.
Robert Newton also deserves mention as Inspector Fix, a Scotland Yard agent who pursues Fogg and Passepartout around the globe, after a false tip leads him to suspect the heroes to be involved with the recent robbery of the Bank of England. As Fix, Newton provides a comical performance which isn't exactly funny, but is still a lot of fun, if you can appreciate my distinction. Affable and likable despite his role as an antagonist, Fix breaks and follows the rules with equal glee; he refuses to arrest Fogg and Passepartout without a proper warrant, for example, but has no problem drugging and kidnapping Passepartout to stall them long enough for the warrant to arrive.
Aside from Cantinflas and Newton stealing the show, Around the World in Eighty Days was known for its celebrity cameos and its Oscar-winning cinematography. Audiences in 1956 enjoyed playing "spot the star" while watching the film, but the potential fun of this game was mostly lost on me, since the only purpose of the cameos seems to be as punctuation for the many long, drawn-out scenes where we are encouraged to gaze at the wonders of the then-innovative Todd-AO cinematography. Yes, the scenery is magnificent, but there's only so much staring at landscapes one can take before the "move" has gone out of the movie. That being said, there was one "spot the star" scene I thoroughly enjoyed -- the saloon scene, which features no less than five big stars in roles so small that the scene serves as a sort of punch-line to the whole cameo parade. (The movie's biggest star, Frank Sinatra, doesn't even have any lines.)
If the biggest flaw of the 1956 film is its slow pace (a common complaint modern audiences make about old movies, true, but I imagine even '56 viewers grew bored with some of the extended "vista" shots), the 2004 remake slightly errs in the opposite direction; whereas the '56 version had too many scenes where little to nothing happens, the '04 version has many scenes were almost too much happens; the camera whirls around like mad, fight and chase scenes erupt at the drop of a hat, and characters often have to shout to be heard above the chaos. While the '56 film was a patient and quiet ode to majesty and sophistication, the '04 version is a madcap romp with thrilling action and wacky comedy. It doesn't always work, but unlike the '56 version, the '04 remake is never boring.
Directed with energy and style by Frank Coraci, this update re-casts Fogg as an eccentric inventor who is routinely ridiculed by the Royal Academy of Science. This time, the bet that sends Fogg around the world is not a friendly gentleman's wager, but a high-stakes gamble, in which academy director Lord Kelvin (played with villainous gusto by Jim Broadbent) agrees to hand his title and authority over to Fogg if Fogg manages to travel around the world in eighty days, while Fogg foolishly agrees to give up his passion of inventing if he should fail to return before the deadline.
This time, Passepartout isn't just given all the best scenes, he's also given his own plotline, which parallels Fogg's wager rather than merely serving as a subplot to it. In this version, Passepartout's real identity is Lau Xing, a secret agent of the Ten Tigers of Canton (a group of ancient Chinese warriors who actually existed in real life). Lau is on a mission to retrieve the Jade Buddha, a sacred relic that has been stolen from his village and stored at the Bank of England -- a detail which adds an interesting twist to Inspector Fix's pursuit of Fogg and Passepartout, since, in this version, Passepartout really is guilty of the robbery he's accused of.
If there is any doubt that the '56 movie was re-written to accommodate the casting of Passepartout, there can be no doubt at all that the '04 version is clearly intended as a vehicle for Jackie Chan, as charismatic as ever as Fogg's faux-French valet. Chan's multiple fights with the Black Scorpions who want to steal the Jade Buddha back all serve as excellent showcases for Chan's unique style of fight choreography, which combines amazing acrobatics with inventive slapstick sight gags at thrillingly break-neck speeds. Chan's accent and niche-like persona may have combined to cause people to under-rate him as an actor, but there's no denying that he still excels most as an action hero, designing and performing creative and amusing stunts. On this level, Around the World in Eighty Days does not disappoint, even if it's all a million miles removed from anything Jules Verne could have imagined.
The result of all this is that Passepartout nearly becomes a more central figure than the original main character, Phileas Fogg. The film attempts to compensate for this by casting Steve Coogan in the role, a tactic that only sort of works. A gifted actor and comedian, Coogan definitely does more for the character of Fogg than the character does for his career; I won't go so far as to say that his talents are lost in the role, as I for one appreciated his performance, but he surely must have known that Chan's character would upstage his even more than Cantinflas threatened to overshadow Niven back in 1956. This is not a complaint about the movie so much as an observation that Coogan perhaps needs a better agent. (He really does seem to have a knack for delivering excellent performances in mediocre roles.)
Like the '56 version, the '04 remake features a lot of fun cameos, and, assuming you don't spoil the "spot the star" fun by looking at the movie's IMDb page, I won't spoil it by listing them here. However, two members of the supporting cast do deserve particular mention, both good and bad. On the negative side, you've got Ewan Bremner as Inspector Fix. As played by Bremner, the bumbling Mr. Fix is the embodiment of the film's emphasis on wacky comedy, but he plays the role much, much too broadly; his constant pratfalls, slapstick, and wildly "comic" overacting turn the character into a sort of live-action cartoon, and, more to the point, an annoying distraction which adds very little of use to the film. In Bremner's defense, it's impossible to tell how much of this is his fault, and how much of the character's irritating traits were decisions by the director or writers.
On the positive side, you've got Mark Addy in the small but memorable role as an enthusiastic steamer captain. Roger Ebert talks a lot about the "joy of performance," which may be sincere or an illusion, but either way, Addy definitely brings it to his character here. Addy is a delight as the eternally optimistic captain who genuinely likes his passengers and is cheerfully determined to see to their happiness, even at ridiculous cost. If Bremner's Mr. Fix represents the worst of this film's over-the-top excess, Addy's steamer character definitely represents the best.
So what's the final verdict for both films? Well, the '56 version definitely had more class. Cantinflas and Niven are both excellent in the lead roles, and the technical aspects are indeed notable achievements -- but the slow pace, even by '50s standards, really does a lot to make the three and a half hours' running time seem even longer. I'm glad I watched it, but I'll never be tempted to watch it again. The remake is a loud, silly, and occasionally juvenile travesty of Jules Verne, but as entertainment goes, the bottom line is it's a lot of fun. Sometimes, even for classic cinema fans such as myself, "they don't make 'em like they used to" is not necessarily a complaint.
Based on the novel by Jules Verne, the movie tells the story of Phileas Fogg, whose stiff upper lip and obsession with precision are both tested when, on a bet, he sets out to prove that "modern" technology and transportation routes (from the perspective of the characters in 1872) would enable a man to travel around the world in a mere eighty days. Charming and suave as ever, David Niven is the perfect choice to play Fogg. His traveling companion and ostensible sidekick, Passepartout, is played by comedian Cantinflas, who, at the time, was such a huge star in Mexico that his celebrity had made him the richest actor in the world. Niven's effortlessly pitch-perfect performance as Fogg is, in fact, often overshadowed by Cantinflas, who gets most of the best scenes in the film.
The movie clearly got a re-write after Cantinflas was cast, to emphasize his particular talents. Cantinflas gets to clown, dance, and play verbal word games, while Fogg's role is alternately reduced to that of an observer, or even written out of the scene entirely. The most notable example is an extended bullfighting scene, which showcases the comedian's expertise in the sport. The scene goes on a bit too long, but it's worth it, as Cantinflas, who stays in character even as he plays the game in expert fashion, is still mesmerizing 53 years later.
Robert Newton also deserves mention as Inspector Fix, a Scotland Yard agent who pursues Fogg and Passepartout around the globe, after a false tip leads him to suspect the heroes to be involved with the recent robbery of the Bank of England. As Fix, Newton provides a comical performance which isn't exactly funny, but is still a lot of fun, if you can appreciate my distinction. Affable and likable despite his role as an antagonist, Fix breaks and follows the rules with equal glee; he refuses to arrest Fogg and Passepartout without a proper warrant, for example, but has no problem drugging and kidnapping Passepartout to stall them long enough for the warrant to arrive.
Aside from Cantinflas and Newton stealing the show, Around the World in Eighty Days was known for its celebrity cameos and its Oscar-winning cinematography. Audiences in 1956 enjoyed playing "spot the star" while watching the film, but the potential fun of this game was mostly lost on me, since the only purpose of the cameos seems to be as punctuation for the many long, drawn-out scenes where we are encouraged to gaze at the wonders of the then-innovative Todd-AO cinematography. Yes, the scenery is magnificent, but there's only so much staring at landscapes one can take before the "move" has gone out of the movie. That being said, there was one "spot the star" scene I thoroughly enjoyed -- the saloon scene, which features no less than five big stars in roles so small that the scene serves as a sort of punch-line to the whole cameo parade. (The movie's biggest star, Frank Sinatra, doesn't even have any lines.)
If the biggest flaw of the 1956 film is its slow pace (a common complaint modern audiences make about old movies, true, but I imagine even '56 viewers grew bored with some of the extended "vista" shots), the 2004 remake slightly errs in the opposite direction; whereas the '56 version had too many scenes where little to nothing happens, the '04 version has many scenes were almost too much happens; the camera whirls around like mad, fight and chase scenes erupt at the drop of a hat, and characters often have to shout to be heard above the chaos. While the '56 film was a patient and quiet ode to majesty and sophistication, the '04 version is a madcap romp with thrilling action and wacky comedy. It doesn't always work, but unlike the '56 version, the '04 remake is never boring.
Directed with energy and style by Frank Coraci, this update re-casts Fogg as an eccentric inventor who is routinely ridiculed by the Royal Academy of Science. This time, the bet that sends Fogg around the world is not a friendly gentleman's wager, but a high-stakes gamble, in which academy director Lord Kelvin (played with villainous gusto by Jim Broadbent) agrees to hand his title and authority over to Fogg if Fogg manages to travel around the world in eighty days, while Fogg foolishly agrees to give up his passion of inventing if he should fail to return before the deadline.
This time, Passepartout isn't just given all the best scenes, he's also given his own plotline, which parallels Fogg's wager rather than merely serving as a subplot to it. In this version, Passepartout's real identity is Lau Xing, a secret agent of the Ten Tigers of Canton (a group of ancient Chinese warriors who actually existed in real life). Lau is on a mission to retrieve the Jade Buddha, a sacred relic that has been stolen from his village and stored at the Bank of England -- a detail which adds an interesting twist to Inspector Fix's pursuit of Fogg and Passepartout, since, in this version, Passepartout really is guilty of the robbery he's accused of.
If there is any doubt that the '56 movie was re-written to accommodate the casting of Passepartout, there can be no doubt at all that the '04 version is clearly intended as a vehicle for Jackie Chan, as charismatic as ever as Fogg's faux-French valet. Chan's multiple fights with the Black Scorpions who want to steal the Jade Buddha back all serve as excellent showcases for Chan's unique style of fight choreography, which combines amazing acrobatics with inventive slapstick sight gags at thrillingly break-neck speeds. Chan's accent and niche-like persona may have combined to cause people to under-rate him as an actor, but there's no denying that he still excels most as an action hero, designing and performing creative and amusing stunts. On this level, Around the World in Eighty Days does not disappoint, even if it's all a million miles removed from anything Jules Verne could have imagined.
The result of all this is that Passepartout nearly becomes a more central figure than the original main character, Phileas Fogg. The film attempts to compensate for this by casting Steve Coogan in the role, a tactic that only sort of works. A gifted actor and comedian, Coogan definitely does more for the character of Fogg than the character does for his career; I won't go so far as to say that his talents are lost in the role, as I for one appreciated his performance, but he surely must have known that Chan's character would upstage his even more than Cantinflas threatened to overshadow Niven back in 1956. This is not a complaint about the movie so much as an observation that Coogan perhaps needs a better agent. (He really does seem to have a knack for delivering excellent performances in mediocre roles.)
Like the '56 version, the '04 remake features a lot of fun cameos, and, assuming you don't spoil the "spot the star" fun by looking at the movie's IMDb page, I won't spoil it by listing them here. However, two members of the supporting cast do deserve particular mention, both good and bad. On the negative side, you've got Ewan Bremner as Inspector Fix. As played by Bremner, the bumbling Mr. Fix is the embodiment of the film's emphasis on wacky comedy, but he plays the role much, much too broadly; his constant pratfalls, slapstick, and wildly "comic" overacting turn the character into a sort of live-action cartoon, and, more to the point, an annoying distraction which adds very little of use to the film. In Bremner's defense, it's impossible to tell how much of this is his fault, and how much of the character's irritating traits were decisions by the director or writers.
On the positive side, you've got Mark Addy in the small but memorable role as an enthusiastic steamer captain. Roger Ebert talks a lot about the "joy of performance," which may be sincere or an illusion, but either way, Addy definitely brings it to his character here. Addy is a delight as the eternally optimistic captain who genuinely likes his passengers and is cheerfully determined to see to their happiness, even at ridiculous cost. If Bremner's Mr. Fix represents the worst of this film's over-the-top excess, Addy's steamer character definitely represents the best.
So what's the final verdict for both films? Well, the '56 version definitely had more class. Cantinflas and Niven are both excellent in the lead roles, and the technical aspects are indeed notable achievements -- but the slow pace, even by '50s standards, really does a lot to make the three and a half hours' running time seem even longer. I'm glad I watched it, but I'll never be tempted to watch it again. The remake is a loud, silly, and occasionally juvenile travesty of Jules Verne, but as entertainment goes, the bottom line is it's a lot of fun. Sometimes, even for classic cinema fans such as myself, "they don't make 'em like they used to" is not necessarily a complaint.
posted by Movie Man at
4:44 AM
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