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HugeReviews.com Reviews:
Vanilla Sky--Episode One--The
Familiar Movie
by Michael Flanagan
Super
For a very good assessment of Abre los Ojos, see Christian's
review of Vanilla Sky, Cameron Crowe's remake of this
movie. I agree very much with his assessment; I loved seeing Vanilla
Sky. I was drawn in, excited, enthralled, and thrilled to have
a movie that leaves you with the ability to philosophize. I hadn't
seen Abre los Ojos.
Now, I have.
 I loved seeing Abre Los Ojos. I was drawn in, excited,
enthralled, and thrilled to have a movie that leaves you with the
ability to philosophize. With very few differences, it is
basically the same as its remake, except with almost different actors
(Penelope Cruz reprised her role, a smart move on Crowe's part) and it's
in Spanish. See, it has to be in Spanish, because it's a Spanish
movie set in Spain.
I mentioned other differences. Sky has added pop-culture
references, like classic rock music and old movies. It uses these,
as well as a corporate capitalist angle, to comment on the mistakes
people make, not as people, but as society. The conclusion there
makes the suggestion that a lot more has to be done, and we, as a
society, should open our eyes. This angle leaves us with a
little more to think about at the end, but it's not the main point of
the movie, and it certainly doesn't hurt Ojos not to have
it. Ojos introduces the sci-fi angle earlier in the film
through a series of clearer hints and allusions. Ojos' main
character, Cruise's later counterpart, Cesar, played well by Eduardo
Noriega, begins to realize what his situation may be sooner, and he is
more accepting of it when it comes. There are some minor
differences in dialogue, and Crowe seems to have a better grasp of the
human condition, at least through dialogue.
All in all, Abre los Ojos is not only an earlier film, but a
younger, more innocent perspective on the story. Steven Spielberg
has often commented on Close Encounters of the Third Kind in
that, if he made the movie now, he would not have Dreyfuss' character
leave with the aliens. The man has a wife and family and
responsibility, and as such, he should have stayed. When Amenabar
made Ojos he was 24. Cameron Crowe made Vanilla Sky
when he was 44. Although Crowe did not change the ending, or
anything else for the most part, his age and experience show in his
version. Abre los Ojos is not so much naive as simply
young. A young man's journey, as opposed to that of a man with
responsibility. Both are equally good, for very similar reasons,
and if you like one you should watch the other. I don't know which
to tell you to watch first.
And in this day and age of Planet
of the Apes (2001), a practically unaltered remake is a welcome
thing, even if its similarity is jolting.
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