The fact that they same person directed these two films is
very surprising. The original was a much more compelling story and telling of
the story because it allowed the viewer to become connected to the material.
The pace of the film, compared to the remake let the material sink in more and
there was time for questioning of what is happening and why. It almost seemed
silly watching the remake after watching the original because of how they
introduced scenes and how they got to certain parts of the film, for example,
the tunnel scene. In the original, the film started out by introducing the
couple and had a space of time that we got to connect with them and sit with
them to get to know them a little bit before something happened. So by the time
they got in the tunnel, and ran out of gas, we had already seen her tell him to
get gas and become frustrated along with her. Also, as the title suggests, we
know that someone or something is going to vanish, so by pacing it slower and
building the characters, you are waiting for the moment for one of them to
disappear. When Rex arrives back at the car, and Saskia is gone, there is a
real sense or worry because we now know the characters, at least a little, and
had some suspense build to the point that you would be worried if one of them
were gone. However, in the remake, this whole situation is fast paced and not
introduced near as well. There is no real connection established with the
characters before the tunnel, and by the time he runs out of gas, she just
mentions that she told him to get it earlier. Introducing lines like this, very
rushed and forced, make the scenes feel silly and bad. Then, by the time he
gets back to the car, there is not a real sense or worry or danger established
because of how quick and abrupt the scene was introduced.
Another scene that again stood out because of introduction
and pacing was Raymond or Barney trying to persuade the women into his car. The
original had such a building up to what it was that he was doing, and not
really introducing him till later in the film that let you be with him and try
to figure out why. He was first introduced just when the car went by him, and
then later we found out why he was shown. Also, because it focuses in on him
trying and failing so much, you start to fear for him a bit and fear that
something is really wrong with him. In the remake, Barney, the new unimproved
Raymond, was just sort of boring and weird. It was partly because of the scenes
themselves and the fact that everything was rushed, but also because the
character wasn’t near as compelling. They showed him fail a couple times, and
then just through on how he came to his final realization of how it was he was
going to accomplish his task. In comparing the two characters, Raymond was a
much more subtle mysteriously creepy guy, that showed a lot of persistence for
a reason that was unknown. Barney was an annoyingly forced weird character that
left no real mystery to his reasoning.
One of the other main additions to the remake that had no
place in being there, and took away form the initial story was the newfound
relationship. I’m not sure why he put this in the remake, but it is completely
unnecessary and frustrating. It moved the story along way too fast, and kind of
took over the real plot of the film, which was the vanishing of the girl. The
new girlfriend just had no place in the story as a remake of the original. In
the end, she was only there to try to be the hero and destroy what was
originally a terrifying ending.
The main theme and idea of the original was all about the
golden egg dream, which I didn’t realize until literally the very end of the
film when they showed both photos of the couple and framed them with an oval. That,
as an ending to the story was fantastic and horrifying all at the same time. It
connected the story to the characters and created a more psychologically interesting
film by using a more metaphoric reasoning to the conception of the film, rather
than a happy boring ending. It brought you inside more, and gave me a moment of
extreme realization in the end when they were both finally in their “golden
eggs” and it was finally all over, like their dreams foretold. In conclusion,
the original created a much more physiologically sound experience that was well
connected and read through by the end. The remake was silly in comparison,
especially having watched the two back to back.
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