A while back, at the end of last March, I wrote about how director Sofia Coppola was remaking the Clint Eastwood starring, Don Siegel directed 1971 film The Beguiled.  (You can read that original article here)

Those who know absolutely nothing at all about this film, quite understandable as I freely admit it isn’t one of Mr. Eastwood’s best remembered works, nonetheless are missing out on what is probably the weirdest film Mr. Eastwood ever made post stardom.

The Beguiled tells the story of John McBurney, an injured Yankee soldier during the Civil War, who is found by a Southern girl’s school and nursed back to health…and the sexual tensions/games played between this officer and the women around him.

This is a dark, dark, dark erotic fable which, because of the presence of Mr. Eastwood in this Civil War setting, plays on your and subverts your expectations (by this time Mr. Eastwood was very well known for his westerns, including the justifiably famous The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, a film which took place at roughly the same period of time).

In my original posting I noted Mr. Eastwood essentially was a “bad guy” in the film…or at least that’s what he ended up being in the end.  However, to ascribe “good” and “bad” labels to characters in this film, in retrospect, is probably counterproductive.

This film goes beyond regular movie tropes and delivers a story which, it can be argued, is quite original and not easy to categorize.

Anyway, last March we got the news of Sofia Coppola doing a remake of the film and that it would star Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning.  There was no word on who would play Mr. Eastwood’s role, at least at that time.

Now, with the release of the remake film’s trailer, we know: Its Colin Farrell…

I…I dunno.

I don’t dislike the casting of Mr. Farrell and certainly have nothing against him…

…but…

The original film benefited immensely from the casting of Clint Eastwood.  Putting such a screen icon (he was most certainly there at that point) and having him play a character with such nuance was an incredibly risky move, one that I felt paid off very well.

So risky was the move that it should not be surprising to learn the original film was a box office failure.  That same year, 1971, it is worth noting Mr. Eastwood and Siegel would also collaborate on and release Dirty Harry.

I suppose I’m willing to give the remake a try.  I just don’t know if it can hold a place next to the so damn dark original.

Here’s a trailer for the original film.  It sucks.

Clearly the studios had no freaking idea what they had with the original film and didn’t have a clue how to market it.  Still, the film is worth a look see, especially if you are a fan of Clint Eastwood’s acting.