what Reeves did, in my book, was to remove Blackeberg and Sweden, and replace it with some american culture so the "wider audience" could stay in the film long enough to get the action. So, for a person not able/willing to take in Swedish culture and/or speech, LMI is a "new take on the original novel", and I believe it was this audience Reeves was talking to.Ash wrote:Reeves promoted the film as being a new take on the original novel.
Hey, even on this board I've read people thinking that LMI was a better take on the novel, despite the fact that the film discarded most of it (and much more than the original film did). The american culture references made it able for them to root for the story in a way the swedish original never could.
What I got from Reeves statement was that he had written a new beginning and end into the story (cyclical take - exit "the father", enter Owen). However I don't like that detail at all, I find that it breaks with JAL's style and destroys most of the magic of the story.