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Robert Zemeckis to Direct Beowulf Movie
jangobongo writes "Robert Zemeckis, who directed the Polar Express and Back To The Future among many others, will helm a new remake of the epic tale of Beowulf. Sony Pictures is in discussions to distribute the picture. (This version is unrelated to another remake scheduled to be released in 2005 titled Beowulf & Grendel, which is currently in post-production.)" I have no idea which version will make for a better film, but this one has Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary writing the script for it as well.
Neil Gaiman just posted about this in his online journal.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
That sounds like the beginnings of a cluster!
*ducks*
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...a modern remake of this epic tale!
;-)
What, expecting me to say something else?
So now theres two Beowulf movies coming soon and two War of the Worlds. I think its interesting to watch interpretations of the same source material by very different teams of filmakers. But I think this is the first time airs of movies have opened so near each other in time.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Then again, Hollywood hasn't ruined *everything* it has touched (think of the LotR movies.) There might still be hope.
Many Bothans died to bring you this sig.
Grendel is an unfinished Java-based mail client.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/grendel/
Will it be done in Anglo-Saxon, or in that sucky post-Norman dialect?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Proof that the only idea that still exists in movie-making is 'Let's drag X up and recycle it.' I predict the Beowulf movies will be at least as good as Troy and Alexander.
'Sparrow.'
Hollywood is a ridiculous echo chamber. After a millenium and a half, they finally make a Beowulf in 1998, after a century of movies, so they make another in 1999. Then they make another two in 2005. They're more "me, too" than Usenet. Ever since the biz stopped being run by gamblers, it's gone straight down the tubes.
--
make install -not war
Yeah, just imagine it!
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
Yet Another Beowulf movie? How many is this now? 5? 6?
Indeed hopefully this one will be better than "The Thirteenth Warrior". That movie is based on a Michael Crichton book, "Eaters of the Dead", which is a rather amusing literary exercize.
There's a lot of them. It's like an entire cluster of movies.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
The lyrics go, I kid you not, something like "Beo- Beo- Beo- Beo- Beowulf!"
Found via Beowulfiana
Actually I am a lab rat in an elaborate plot to take over the world.
the Mel Brooks version!
This sig seemed like a good idea at the time....
So. We have seen many a slashdotter
Grieve and grumble greatly over films.
"Classics ruined!" they clamor. "Memories killed!" they cry.
Should Greedo shoot first? Surely nay.
Why then should they not whimper and whine
When they hear this horror, a Beowulf film!
Scyld Scefing? Shield Sheafson? Sam Soros?
Which woeful name for the screen will be chosen?
Michael Crichton told a tale once;
The movie was made, many watched.
Sadly it sucked. Sigh.
English is easier said than done.
I just re-read the latest (and imho greatest) Beowulf translation by Seamus Heaney.
I don't care for the Heaney translation myself--it's not faithful to either the letter or the spirit of the original.
Just one example of how flat the whole thing feels to me: lines 499-501, where the Danish thane Unferth challenges Beowulf. Heaney not only mis-translates it, he misrepresents the whole scene. Unferth is described as "he aet fotum saet frean Scyldinga", literally, "he (who) sat at the feet of the lord of the Scyldings." That is, Unferth was the Danes' champion and sat in the place of honor. Heaney renders this "crouched at the feet..." which is not only incorrect but gives the wrong idea of Unferth's status. Unferth rags on Beowulf about his famous contest with Breca; the poet says he "onband beadu-rune", literally, "unbound a battle-rune." Heaney says he "spoke contrary words." Way to press the life out of it. Not only is that a boring phrase, it's incorrect. Unferth is not hostile to Beowulf. He's making him feel at home, by busting his balls a little like a drinking buddy would, and giving Beowulf a chance to boast about himself. Beowulf's answer makes that clear:
Hwaet thu worn fela wine min Unferth
beore druncen ymb Brecan spraece,
saegdest from his sithe. Soth ic talige..."
"Well, many things, my friend Unferth,
drunk with beer Of breca you have spoken,
talkd of his journeys. I'll tell you what happened..."
I recommend getting Howell Chickering's facing-page translation. Or, if you don't mind putting in a little effort that, believe me, will be well spent, get Klaeber's 3rd edition of the Cotton Vitellius manuscript and Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer. You'll be well rewarded.