Last July, the city of Paris echoed with cries of joy as thousands upon thousands took to the streets to celebrate their country’s World Cup victory over Croatia. The moment of social unity did not endure, but it left a lasting impression — shots of the celebrations play as an overture for Ladj Ly’s “Les Miserables,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in October and opens Friday, Nov. 29.
Mind you, the French director does not linger on the punch-drunk joy for very long; he is, after all, more interested in the hangover that would soon follow.
With his feature debut, Ly sets out to explore the various social and economic fissures that could take a society from collective triumph to revolutionary anger over just a matter of days – fissures that are hardly limited to France, and, as the Victor Hugo-evoking title would suggest, in no way unique to the 21st Century.
Set in same working-class suburb where Hugo situated much of his 1862 masterpiece, “Les Miserables” assumes the broad outlines of a “Training Day” like police thriller – following a wet-behind-the-years rookie and his trigger happy partners on one hellishly bad first day on the job – and uses it a springboard to flesh out a community while tracing its numerous fault lines.
As broadly described, the script wins few points for originality: After we spend the first act setting up the various factions and navigating the unexpected hierarchies between dealers, clerics, cops and Roma, things kick into high gear when a local youth captures a moment of police brutality, and all parties fight like hell to get hold of the tape.
Of course, Ly rather cleverly inoculates his film to charges of repetition by outright owning them. Of course, you’ve seen stories like before. The film freely admits, these exact same stories, these preventable tragedies and pointless injustices have been manifesting themselves for hundreds of years.
What varies, then, are the specifics, the individual lives caught in the ever-turning gears. And on that front, the film excels, considering each faction with both empathy (which is common in a film like this) and a generous sense of humor (which is really, really not) that speaks to the director’s profound understanding and affection for a suburb that even many in France would flippantly consider a “no-go zone.”
Ly, who is the part of the same forward-thinking film collective that produced Romain Gavras, Vincent Cassel and the “Faces Places” co-director JR, conducts the proceedings with sharp formal acumen and openness to new technology. He alternates between sequences shot with a handheld, whiplashing camera and ones captured by an airborne drone, the uncannily steady images of which only reiterating that sense of grim determinism.
15 Highest-Grossing American Remakes of Foreign Films, From 'Godzilla' to 'The Departed' (Photos)
The Swedish film "Force Majeure" was a critically acclaimed darling but not exactly a box office hit. So there was an opportunity to take the film's black humor and install the American charms of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell to see how it might fare commercially in "Downhill," opening this weekend. But surprisingly, even box office hits abroad don't always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight
15. Nine Months (1995) - $69.6 Million
France, "Neuf mois" (1994)
This much-loved Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore rom-com about pregnancy started as a French romantic comedy called "Neuf mois," but it was the remake that took off in America and abroad, grossing $138 million worldwide.
Twentieth Century Fox
14. "Dinner for Schmucks" (2010) - $73.0 Million
France, "Le Diner de Cons" (1998)
The snappy French comedy "Le Diner de Cons," or "The Dinner Game," made over $4 million at the domestic box office after releasing in France back in 1998, spawning this less-critically successful remake from Jay Roach starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell.
Paramount
13. "Eight Below" (2006) - $81.6 Million
Japan, "Antarctica" (1983)
Both "Antarctica" and "Eight Below" were big box office hits. How could a survival story about eight huskies not be? But while "Eight Below" is a Disney-fied and whitewashed version of the story, the Japanese film hews closer to a real-life ill-fated rescue mission from the '50s. "Antarctica" also held the box office record in Japan until the release of "Princess Mononoke" in 1997.
Walt Disney Pictures
12. "Vanilla Sky" (2001) - $100.6 Million
Spain, "Abre Los Ojos" (1997)
Cameron Crowe directed Tom Cruise in the American remake of Alejandro Amenabar's "Abre Los Ojos," about a handsome and vain man who suffers an accident that disfigures his face. Crowe's version follows Amenabar's closely but makes a significant change to the ending that polarized some critics and audiences.
Paramount Pictures
11. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2011) - $102.5 Million
Sweden, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2009)
While technically an American version of Stieg Larsson's book, the success of David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" owes a lot to the overseas success of the Swedish adaptation of the book. The Swedish version grossed over $10 million in America and over $100 million worldwide. And the film's star, Noomi Rapace, set the stage for screen versions of Lisbeth Salander, further using it as a launching pad for her own English-language acting career.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
10. "The Italian Job" (2003) - $106.1 Million
Britain, "The Italian Job" (1969)
Mark Wahlberg might not be Michael Caine, but F. Gary Gray's retro caper of the classic British heist movie was a box office hit and helped put Mini Coopers back on the map stateside.
Paramount Pictures
9. "The Upside" (2019)
France, "The Intouchables" (2011)
Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart starred in this sweet remake of "The Intouchables," a movie that made so much money in France that it became a cultural event. After earning $166 million in France, the country's second-highest-grossing film ever, and over $426 million worldwide, an American remake of the film was inevitable, and it proved bankable as well. It made $108.2 million domestic but only did modestly overseas for a worldwide total of $125.8 million.
STXfilms
8. The Grudge (2004) - $110.3 Million
Japan, "Ju-On: The Grudge" (2002)
"The Grudge," like "The Ring," was part of a wave of Japanese horror remakes from the early 2000s and also spawned several other American horror sequels. As of 2020, even the American remake now got its own remake, though that one sputtered at the box office in comparison.
Columbia Pictures Corporation
7. "The Birdcage" (1996) - $124.0 Million
France, "La Cage aux Folles" (1978)
Mike Nichols' "The Birdcage" isn't just a remake of a foreign film, it's also an adaptation of a long-running French play. Both film and play are titled "La Cage aux Folles," and the French film adaptation was nominated for three Oscars following its release in 1978.
MGM
6. "The Ring" (2002) - $129.1 Million
Japan, "Ringu" (1998)
The American version of "The Ring" remains the highest-grossing horror remake of all time, and it was so wildly successful that it spawned a whirl of other American remakes of Japanese horror films, including "The Grudge," "Pulse," "The Eye," "Shutters," "Mirror" and more, all within a few years of each other.
DreamWorks
5. "The Departed" (2006) - $132 Million
Hong Kong, "Infernal Affairs," (2002)
Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" is so intrinsically tied to Boston cops and gangsters that it's hard to remember that the film's twisty story of moles and double crossing originated in Hong Kong as "Infernal Affairs," which itself spawned several sequels abroad. And while the film's critical acclaim in Japan was impressive, it was Scorsese's film that won the Oscar for Best Picture.
Roland Emmerich's "Godzilla" starring Matthew Broderick wasn't a hit with critics, but it did stomp all over the box office in 1998, becoming the 9th-highest-grossing film of the year.
Warner Bros.
3. "True Lies" (1994) - $146.2 Million
France, "La Totale!" (1991)
The French "La Totale!" is firmly a comedy and performed modestly at the French box office, but James Cameron made it his own when he cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in his tongue-in-cheek action blockbuster.
Twentieth Century Fox
2. "3 Men and a Baby" (1987) - $167.7 Million
France, "3 Hommes et un couffin" (1985)
Made on a midsize budget and starring the most '80s cast of Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson as three bachelors watching over a baby, "3 Men and a Baby" was a surprise comedy hit as the top grossing movie of 1987. But its French predecessor was likewise a success, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film in 1986.
Buena Vista Pictures
1. "Godzilla" (2014) - $200.6 Million
Japan, "Godzilla" (1954)
"Godzilla" has had so many remakes and sequels over the years, but Gareth Edwards' film gets closer to the melancholy of Ishiro Honda's original monster movie than ever before.
Legendary/Warner Bros.
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”Downhill,“ opening this week, is a remake of the critically acclaimed Swedish film ”Force Majeure“
The Swedish film "Force Majeure" was a critically acclaimed darling but not exactly a box office hit. So there was an opportunity to take the film's black humor and install the American charms of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell to see how it might fare commercially in "Downhill," opening this weekend. But surprisingly, even box office hits abroad don't always translate when remade with American actors, and the ones that do rarely resemble their original inspiration. Here are the highest-grossing American remakes of foreign films (all domestic box office figures via Box Office Mojo).
Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight
Twentieth Century Fox
