Re-imagining is the new term for remake in case you haven’t heard. It is not simply a retelling but a new direction taken from the same premise. Rob Zombie is calling his remake of Halloween a
re-imagining. I hear they are starting on a re-imagining of The Thing, etc, etc. (Cybergosh has informed me that Tim Burton coined the phrase in press junkets for Planet of the Apes.) Well, I finally saw a remake that deserves this title.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped is truly a re-imagining of James Tobak’s Fingers. I always thought that Fingers was a nice companion piece to Taxi Driver…basically Keitel’s Taxi Driver and certainly
the best thing Toback has ever done. Very memorable performances and a few classic scenes, including the Tanya Roberts bang scene. (And something strange…the new version of that scene is totally different and tame. I would expect the opposite from the French.)

I’m not sure which film I liked more….I may lean towards BTMHS. I got more emotionally attached. And the lead…Romain Duris…excellent!! This guy will be a star…if he bleaches his teeth before doing an American film. But he has the same charisma as Keitel. But Romain comes across way more sympathetic than Harvey. And I truly felt something for his decisions in the end, where I didn’t so much in Fingers….

Beautiful cinematography and great use of music. See both films.