(I never saw the original.) This story is probably too dated for young viewers uninterested in the morality of a bygone age (though it should make us all thrilled those days are dead, dead, dead).
The film is certainly gorgeous to look at. Costumes, the countryside, even the old cars, all beautiful. Most of the acting is great except for the female lead who has only one expression--sad with optional tears. If she's lustful, hopeful, worried, offended, the face stays in that one expression. It becomes wearying then frustrating and makes her less "beautiful" with every frame. (I was reminded of Kristen Stewart biting her lip all the danged time.) Perhaps she was trying to play the girl as mildly retarded (which could be--she certainly was rather an idiot at every turn), but whyever this choice, it didn't work for me, and a viewer's belief in her attractiveness and "goodness" (doormattishness) is crucial to make the story work.
In the end, this movie is a big "so what?" to me. The story has been told before, it's hopelessly outdated, and it adds nothing to our understanding of human nature. It's not a happy ending seen through my world view. The mother-in-law gets away with horrors that suggest the rest of the young couple's life will also be hellish because of her. And the "I'll take you as a consolation prize" ending for the sister and soldier is equally as horrifying to contemplate.
The film is certainly gorgeous to look at. Costumes, the countryside, even the old cars, all beautiful. Most of the acting is great except for the female lead who has only one expression--sad with optional tears. If she's lustful, hopeful, worried, offended, the face stays in that one expression. It becomes wearying then frustrating and makes her less "beautiful" with every frame. (I was reminded of Kristen Stewart biting her lip all the danged time.) Perhaps she was trying to play the girl as mildly retarded (which could be--she certainly was rather an idiot at every turn), but whyever this choice, it didn't work for me, and a viewer's belief in her attractiveness and "goodness" (doormattishness) is crucial to make the story work.
In the end, this movie is a big "so what?" to me. The story has been told before, it's hopelessly outdated, and it adds nothing to our understanding of human nature. It's not a happy ending seen through my world view. The mother-in-law gets away with horrors that suggest the rest of the young couple's life will also be hellish because of her. And the "I'll take you as a consolation prize" ending for the sister and soldier is equally as horrifying to contemplate.