I love to compare remakes and originals. Now and then a remake is better than the original, while other times one film has a lot more nudity than the other. Today I wanted to talk about two films that you might not realize are connected because they don't share a title, cast, location, or nearly anything at all other than a basic plot. Let's look at: Mississippi Mermaid and Original Sin.
François Truffaut is a super famous French director. He's responsible for such classics as The 400 Blows, Breathless, Day for Night, and Jules and Jim, among so many others. With his resume, it's easy to look past a couple of his films. Mississippi Mermaid gets overlooked a lot despite its nudity.
This original love story stars Catherine Deneuve who plays a woman of mystery in this love story filled with twists and turns. A wealthy plantation owner is engaged to a woman whom he has never met. He's only ever seen a photo of her. When his bride-to-be arrives, he's thrilled. She's gorgeous, but she doesn't look like the photograph. Hey, would you be mad if someone showed up looking like this? I didn't think so.
But others are suspicious and think that this woman is an imposter. Is she the real woman? If not, then who is she? Whoever she is, she has great tits.
They fall in love and he looks past her shady past. They get married even though there is so much about her that he doesn't know. When she leaves with his money, he is informed that this is not his wife at all. A private detective hunts her down where she is living life to the fullest in Antibes. She confesses to having been forced to do this imposter scam by a gangster she met after she got out of prison. Hey, it's easy to forgive a sexy bad girl.
The ending is super French where the pair are on the run, but she gets tired of him. She starts poisoning his coffee which he catches wind of and confronts her about it. They have a dramatic conversation about how difficult it is to love and then run off in a snowstorm together. Again, so very painfully French.
The remake is a lot less French. Original Sin goes Spanish as it stars Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie in Cuba! Angelina and her lover con this rich man, played by Banderas, into marrying him and running off with his money. But, of course, Jolie falls for him. They become lovers and her plan is no longer foolproof.
The plot is almost the same except that it all takes place in colonial Cuba when Spain ruled. The poisoning plan even occurs, but this time Angelina's character runs off. She is found by the private eye who is also her former lover! He holds a knife to her throat and threatens her for abandoning Banderas, but Banderas shoots him and saves his woman. They are passionately in love! Wouldn't you be if this was what sex was like?
Which one is better? The remake is much more of an erotic thriller at the end of the golden age of erotic thrillers. The original is more of a drama. That said, they both have hot nudity!
