The Art of Remix

From Knock-offs to Reworks

Paraphrasing Zdzisław Maklakiewicz from "Rejs," we like the films we've seen before the most. No story is original, as they rely on familiar patterns. According to screenplay guru Raymond G. Frensham, there are only 8 basic types of stories from which all others derive (these are: Achilles, Candide, Circe, Tristan, Cinderella, Faust, Orpheus, Romeo, and Juliet). Browsing today's cinema repertoire, this becomes even more apparent – 75% of premieres are sequels, remakes, reboots, or adaptations. This significantly limits the freshness of the audience's impressions because you can roughly predict what to expect. Favorite characters, known actors, the same stories retold – a proven formula allows studios to save millions on marketing because there already exists a fan base eagerly awaiting the continuation. No wonder some filmmakers capitalize on others' successes to grab a piece of the pie. Picasso used to say that plagiarism is copying someone else's work, but stealing from many is creativity. Let's see how the idea of remix fits into the footsteps of remakes, sequels, previs, and director's cuts (topics I've discussed in earlier texts).

    Everything is a remix. Even such influential – and seemingly original – works like "The Matrix" were created as a blend of threads from various entertainment films ("Ghost in the Shell," "Akira," "Fist of Legend" – a remake of "The Chinese Connection"), with the script interwoven with ideas from various religions and philosophies, including Zhuangzi, Plato, Kant, and "Alice in Wonderland". Video essayist Kirby Ferguson created the video "Everything is a Remix," in which he juxtaposed individual shots from "The Matrix" with corresponding shots in terms of frame, movement, and composition from films that served as inspiration. This juxtaposition of sources could even serve as a previs, or rough sketch of a shot list. Ferguson produced several essays on the topic of remix, and at the famous TED conference, he delivered a speech proving that creativity is also a remix, not only in the world of culture but also in science and technology. Nothing exists in isolation from past achievements.

           The most influential director of his generation, Tarantino – a two-time Oscar winner for best screenplay – does nothing in his films but creates collages of works that had a significant impact on him in his youth. He claims he doesn't steal from other creators but only pays them homage. His debut "Reservoir Dogs" is almost an exact remake of the Hong Kong production "City on Fire" directed by Ringo Lam. A student in the video "Who Do You Think You're Fooling?" compiled selected scenes from both productions, juxtaposing them to show that the plagiarism was as close as when Sergio Leone transplanted the story of Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" to the Wild West in "A Fistful of Dollars". In a similar spirit, every Tarantino film is a tribute to a genre or trend: gangster film, blaxploitation, spaghetti-western, or the war film subgenre about a special unit fighting the Nazis. Titles like "Jackie Brown" or "Django Unchained" clearly indicate the source of inspiration.

 

The Same Material – A Different Story

Exploitation of Basic Instincts

Roger Corman – known as the pope of popular cinema – is regarded as the producer of many of the worst films, but his keen sense of audience needs ensures that each of his productions brought him profit. Rumor has it that every morning he used to read the newspaper and cut out the headlines of the most important news, then mix them in any configurations. When he saw something that could be a good title for a film, he sent a note to his office. Based on it, his team had a concept poster and slogan ready by evening. If Corman liked the concept, he faxed it to local distributors. If distributors showed enough interest, Corman hired a screenwriter to write the story suggested by the poster. Then he organized a film crew to shoot a film for which he had already created demand. This was reverse engineering in his execution.

Having experience in low-budget productions, Corman provided niche competition to major studios. As soon as a mega-hit idea electrified Hollywood – vampires, car races, or Al Capone – Corman created his own version of the idea. His crew could quickly write, shoot, edit, and distribute the film long before the competition, before the subject aged in the eyes of the audience. After all, one of the marketing rules says: the first one wins. From 1954, Corman produced nearly 400 films (55 of which he directed himself), not losing a penny on them.

Giving a chance to budding filmmakers, Corman became the godfather of New Hollywood. Such directing legends as Ron Howard, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola gained their first experience with him. Trying to make a name for himself, Jack Nicholson – the most Oscar-nominated actor and three-time winner – also started with him. Not everyone knows that Roger Corman helped bring many European masters to the awareness of the American audience. He imported the works of Antonioni, Fellini, Truffaut, Kurosawa, and Bergman to America. He paid $75,000 for the distribution rights of the film "Cries and Whispers," and the film earned $2 million from ticket sales. Within a decade, his studio won more Oscars for foreign-language films than any Hollywood giant. Sometimes Corman drastically modified them to suit American tastes. This was the case with the film "Battle Beyond the Sun'' from 1962, created by using the Soviet production "The Sky Calls" from 1959, to which Francis Ford Coppola added new scenes and recorded American dialogues. The spaceship scenes from the original were reused many times in films such as "Space Raiders," "Starquest II," "Dead Space," and even in some video games.

He wasn't the only one who recycled other films. "Escape from Afghanistan" (2001) was the Russian film "Peshavar Waltz" with added new scenes. "Virtually Heroes" (2013) fulfilled his long-time desire to create a war film by using materials from his enormous stockpiles. Since the 1970s, Corman produced over 20 war films. In an interview, he mentioned that if he combined all the spectacular battle scenes from those productions, he could create one spectacular hit at a very low cost. The producer cannibalized scenes from only nine of his films from 1991-2003 and added connecting plots. The cost of "Virtually Heroes" closed at just over $100,000. In Corman's over sixty-year career, this was the only production shown at the Sundance Festival. It is worth mentioning that in 2009, he was awarded an honorary Oscar.

Underlay for the Original

A quite similar idea to Corman's for using ready material had then-aspiring comedian Woody Allen. For his directorial debut "What's Up, Tiger Lily?", he chose the Japanese spy film "International Secret Police: Key of Keys," for which he purchased the rights and then added newly written American dialogues, unrelated to the original content. He also re-edited the sequence of scenes and shot a few new ones. He turned the script into a grotesque comedy where intelligence agents were searching for a recipe for egg salad. Foreign films are understood only through proper translation, so replacing the translation can lead to unpredictable results (just like in the Monty Python sketch with Hungarian phrasebooks or the well-known internet meme about Hitler and an Orange phone bill).

Adding dialogues makes sense, especially for foreign versions of the film. It's easier to add a new translation to a Japanese film where actors don't speak the native language of the American audience. Michel Hazanavicius, later an Oscar winner for "The Artist," used a similar concept. In 1993, he created a collage of the most famous Hollywood films, forming a completely new story without adding any scenes. Hazanavicius used the scheme from "Citizen Kane." The story concerns an investigation into the death of George Abitbol (played by John Wayne), who died in the South Pacific. The reporters are Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Dustin Hoffman. They question various people about their memories of Abitbol, especially his last words before his death. The film also features such stars as Jason Robards, Orson Welles, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, James Stewart, Dean Martin, Clark Gable, Angie Dickinson, Lauren Bacall, and Jacqueline Bisset. The joke was that the director used the voices of French actors who had been dubbing these same actors for years, making them identified with them for the French audience. This allowed for the authentication of the story and the continuation of themes through different eras, as John Wayne or Dustin Hoffman appear here in several incarnations from different films. The French obtained rights to fragments from Warner Bros. collections, and the entire experiment was well-received by critics.

Steve Martin took a different approach, deciding to literally "insert" himself into old American crime films. "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" is a tribute to noir cinema and a collage of the most interesting works of the genre. In the 1982 black-and-white film, Martin plays a detective, and his on-screen partners are the following stars of that era: Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster, Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, and Lana Turner. What a cast! This was mostly possible by using rear projection, with counter-shots featuring Steve Martin's back. Meanwhile, the scenes with shots of his face were shot in identical sets and lighting conditions. In one scene, the comedian even appears in the same shot as Cary Grant, thanks to a trick shot. The filmmakers spent countless hours watching noir classics in search of specific shots and dialogues that could be logically pieced together. Then new dialogues were written to connect them, creating the entire plot. In total, fragments of five films were used, with Universal holding the rights, and licenses were obtained for 14 more titles. This patchwork resulted in the remarkable impression that the film was actually set in the 1940s. Since "Forrest Gump," inserting a contemporary actor into historical shots has become very popular thanks to digital technology, particularly useful in commercials (and also used during film award ceremonies where the host supposedly becomes a character in the nominated films).

The Star is Dead, Long Live... the Double

Interrupted Legend

What do you do when a film's success depends on a star who unfortunately died before completing the shoot? Bruce Lee became an international film star with "Enter the Dragon," and his untimely death ensured his legendary status. Historian Patrick Macias attributes his success to "bringing the warrior spirit of the past into contemporary times... developing his own fighting style... and possessing superhuman charisma." "Enter the Dragon" was the biggest worldwide hit from this region at the time.

Previously, Lee was working on his own film titled "Game of Death." Unfortunately, due to a brain edema, the actor suddenly died without completing the shoot. The demand for the action hero created by Lee led to a flood of Bruce Lee-like productions. Moviegoers were not always aware that the real Bruce Lee had long been dead, seeing his name (in variations like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Lai, Bruce Liang...) on posters of subsequent films. The fact that all Asians looked similar to Western audiences was also exploited. Thus, dozens of films were made over the next decade in a trend later called Bruceploitation, a combination of Bruce and exploitation.

Five years after Lee's death, the director of "Enter the Dragon," Robert Clouse, decided to complete "Game of Death" using doubles and footage from Lee's previous films. However, the plot was significantly changed, mainly because the story from "Game of Death" had already been rehashed countless times. With access to photos from the set and articles about the original production of "Game of Death," several filmmakers managed to create their own versions of the story. This resulted in works like "Enter the Game of Death" (1978) or "The True Game of Death" (1979). Meanwhile, in the production "Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death" (1975), the real situation faced by Robert Clouse was used. The screenplay tells of a martial arts master who is spotted one day during a street fight by producers of an unfinished film with Bruce Lee. Noticing the extraordinary resemblance of the karateka to the deceased star, they offer him a role in the film to complete the production. A rival studio, however, tries to prevent this.

Clouse, with a larger budget than the Hong Kong filmmakers, was able to expand the set and add action scenes with motorcycle chases. He also invited Bond composer John Barry to score the soundtrack. But the director's main asset was the original footage with Bruce Lee. Using only 11 minutes of scenes shot by Lee, Clouse wrote a completely new story around them. In Lee's original script, the film's hero was a martial arts master. Clouse made Bruce Lee play his alter-ego: a movie star named Billy Lo, who clashes with the mafia. This starting point gave the double opportunities for numerous disguises (dark glasses, fake beards). The script also incorporated fragments from Lee's previous productions, and four doubles handled most of the scenes leading up to archival one-two-second close-ups of Lee's face. Especially in the fight scenes, new shots with actors from previous films, like Robert Wall, were added. Unfortunately, the differences are easily noticeable due to the lower quality of the film tape of these inserts. The peak of bad taste was incorporating shots from Bruce Lee's real funeral into the plot and showing his body in an open casket. This was explained in the story by Billy Lo wanting to fake his death to buy time (similarly to James Bond in "You Only Live Twice"). The film was lambasted by critics for its weak script and exploitation of the subject. Despite this, it still enjoys a huge cult following among fans, one of whom is Tarantino, who paid homage to it in "Kill Bill vol.1" with Uma Thurman's costume. The sequel to Clouse's film, "Game of Death II," shot three years later by another team, only shares the title and the main character's name with the original. The producers used shots from "Enter the Dragon" at the beginning, suggesting that its hero died, giving his brother a reason for revenge and a pretext to become the main character.

As can be seen, the four feature films Bruce Lee made during his lifetime inspired a mass of imitations. Only in the late 1990s was the entire lost material from the original "Game of Death" found. A special documentary, "Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey," included a 40-minute version of the film consisting mainly of fights. To date, this is the closest copy of Bruce Lee's original vision, re-soundtracked and edited from the found materials based on Lee's notes. If not for his death, martial arts films would surely have been more respected.

The Curse of the Panther

Producers of the popular comedy series about Inspector Clouseau faced a similar challenge due to a deceased star. For the record, the main character of the 1963 film "The Pink Panther" was the diamond thief played by David Niven, while the police inspector, brilliantly played by Peter Sellers, was only a supporting character. However, so original in his incompetence that the film's creator Blake Edwards decided to develop the character and devote an entire film to him, "A Shot in the Dark." It was the first of seven sequels directed by Edwards, though after its premiere, further parts, always containing a mention of the Pink Panther in the title, were not made for 11 years. The only exception was the 1968 production "Inspector Clouseau," in which neither Edwards nor Sellers worked, and the titular character was played only once by Alan Arkin – perhaps for these reasons, the film turned out to be a financial flop.

When Sellers returned to the role in 1975, each of his three films brought considerable profits. However, the series faced an inevitable end when, two years after the premiere of "Revenge of the Pink Panther," Sellers unexpectedly died. There could be no question of replacing him with another actor – his talent was unparalleled, and the failure with Alan Arkin was irrefutable proof of that. For although six actors successfully played James Bond, in the viewers' opinion, there was only one Inspector Clouseau.

Undeterred, the director creatively decided to develop unused footage from "The Pink Panther Strikes Again," which had been discarded when the main plot of the script changed. The "Citizen Kane" scheme works very well with flashbacks. Around these scenes, new events were written to create a coherent whole. The plot revolved around a report on the disappearance of the famous Inspector, allowing the reporter to interview many characters from previous parts of the series. The conversations also allowed the editor to introduce flashbacks, which were scenes from all previous parts. An interesting move was also to introduce a conversation with Clouseau's father about the Inspector's childhood, allowing scenes from the Second World War with a much younger actor to be shot. Only at the end of the film does a double appear, resembling Sellers. He stands on the edge of a cliff when suddenly attacked by a seagull. The film "Trail of the Pink Panther" enjoyed weak cinema success, partly due to the reduced budget for production and promotion. Although it was made as a tribute to the great actor, Sellers' widow sued the studio for desecrating his memory and won a compensation case.

Clouseau returned once more when "Curse of the Pink Panther" hit theaters a year later. This time, the film used none of Peter Sellers' footage (only a few recorded dialogues). The premise was to introduce a new hero to the series. This was to be American detective Clifton Sleigh, tasked with finding the missing Clouseau. Familiar characters played by David Niven and Claudia Cardinale, as well as characters Cato and Inspector Dreyfus, passed through the plot to ensure continuity of the loose threads. At the end of the film, Clouseau indeed returns, but – like the hero of "Game of Death" – undergoes plastic surgery, allowing him to hide his identity. Here, he was played by Roger Moore, who was taking a break from filming the next Bond. However, even this trick couldn't save the series, over which the titular curse hung. Without Sellers' participation, the character lost its charm. Eleven years later, Edwards directed "Son of the Pink Panther," which aimed to introduce a new hero but turned out to be the final nail in the coffin. Actors from previous parts returned, and the role of Clouseau's son was played by popular Italian comedian Roberto Benigni. His mother was played by Claudia Cardinale, who played the countess in the original film thirty years earlier. It was the last film by Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini, the composer of the famous musical theme. The production returned less than ten percent of the invested funds and was successful only in Italy. Edwards retired, but before his death, he saw another attempt to reboot the series without his involvement. The 2006 "The Pink Panther," starring Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Kevin Kline, and Beyoncé, was meant to start a new franchise for Sony, which was simultaneously working on "Casino Royale" (a reboot of the James Bond series). The production did quite well in  theaters and promised a bright future for the series. Unfortunately, "The Pink Panther 2," filmed three years later, despite involving even more stars, barely recouped production costs. The curse did its job, and the franchise was suspended. At least until someone new wants to revive the tried-and-true character again.

Cinema knows no bounds when it comes to resurrecting prematurely deceased actors. Of course, today, CGI technology allows tricks like rejuvenation or bringing back old images. In the nineties, Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son, who died from a fatal gunshot on set) was one of the first victims of such attempts in sequences for "The Crow," and Oliver Reed in "Gladiator." However, "Terminator: Genisys" rejuvenated Schwarzenegger, and the character Rachel (or her perfect android copy) appeared in "Blade Runner 2049." Perhaps this is the direction of the future, as it will allow tapping into popular characters and producing countless sequels. Soon we may see the digital reanimation of Peter Sellers, and the Pink Panther will return to screens as often as superheroes from Marvel Studios.

The Myth of the Bandit

The highest-grossing film of 1977 was "Star Wars." The mythical story, innovative special effects, everything in this film significantly raised the bar for science-fiction filmmakers. Incidentally, this production frequently used motifs from the films of John Ford, Akira Kurosawa, or Leni Riefenstahl. However, few people know that the second highest-grossing film in terms of ticket sales that year was the comedy "Smokey and the Bandit" starring Burt Reynolds. The directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham, produced for 4 million dollars, unexpectedly became a hit, earning 300 million dollars. No wonder a sequel was soon made because the seventies promoted the trend of continuations with series like "Rocky," "Dirty Harry," or the aforementioned "Pink Panther." The Bandit – a character played by Reynolds – driving a black Pontiac Trans Am became America's favorite, especially in rural areas where country music reigned. He also unofficially became the face of the Pontiac company. The second part, made in 1980 with almost the same team and cast, fared slightly worse in theaters but still found its audience. However, when the third part was made three years later, it turned out that no one was interested.

Burt Reynolds initially vowed not to participate in a repeat, as did the director and creator of the character. Only Jackie Gleason, playing the relentless sheriff, remained as the sole pillar. The script suggested that his character was bored in retirement and decided to take up the Burdette brothers' challenge, which was, as always, to transport a certain cargo in a very short time. This time, the cargo was neither an elephant nor even a container of Coors beer, but a shark model from the film "Jaws" advertising the brothers' local establishment.

The producers couldn't afford the stars of the previous parts, not to mention the Bandit – an opponent without whom the entire endeavor would make no sense. Someone came up with the idea that Jackie Gleason could play both characters! To confirm this concept, there is a trailer for the rough cut of the film, miraculously saved from oblivion by the internet. It contains a scene where Sheriff Buford T. Justice claims that to understand his opponent the Bandit and defeat him, he must become him. Such a concept of exploitation didn't even occur to Hong Kong filmmakers! There is even a photograph of the actor dressed as the Bandit – red shirt, thick black mustache, and cowboy hat.

After finishing the shoot, a test screening was held, which the audience mostly booed. It was supposed to be a showcase of Jackie Gleason's acting skills, trying to match Peter Sellers' accomplishments, known for playing multiple characters in one film. Moreover, Gleason had a significant influence on the script and production. Fortunately, the producers decided on reshoots and added Jerry Reed, who played Cledus (the Bandit's partner) in the previous films, known as the Snowman. Paradoxically, before Burt Reynolds became interested in the script, Reed was supposed to play the Bandit in the first part. Now he had a chance to meet his destiny. The crew reshot scenes where the Snowman is persuaded by the Burdette brothers to distract the sheriff and pretend to be the Bandit. All for the brothers' amusement, who wanted the sheriff to fail. However, viewers had much less fun. The film contains many forced dialogues and weak chases. Many scenes quote situations from previous parts, trying to artificially solidify the trilogy.

Interestingly, in the chase finale, the sheriff sees a black Trans Am in the parking lot with the real Bandit played by Burt Reynolds inside. However, the scene is filmed through a blur filter, making it seem like a hallucination. Reynolds agreed to appear in one scene as a favor to Gleason, but the finale loses its significance. Such a patchwork of nonsense couldn't be saved, and the film didn't even recoup its budget. To this day, it is considered one of the worst films in history, but fans of the series still hope to find the test version where Jackie Gleason plays two characters. Maybe, like other miraculous cases, someone will find it someday...

Revising Careers and the Cost of Fame

The Rise of Jackie Chan

When an unknown actor suddenly rises to fame after years of struggle, viewers begin to take an interest in his previous work. This was the case with Jack Nicholson, who broke through with his role in "Easy Rider" after ten years of trying his hand in Hollywood as an actor, director, and screenwriter. It was the same with Jackie Chan, who was predicted to have a career as one of Bruce Lee's numerous imitators – after all, he played one of the main roles in the sequel to Lee's film "The New Fist of Fury." Only when another film studio capitalized on his comedic talent did Chan manage to break through and dominate the market with titles like "Drunken Master" and "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow." These productions secured his position as the new king of cinema in Hong Kong.

Following this, films he had previously starred in were revised or developed. Four years after the premiere of "The New Fist of Fury," the runtime was cut by 40 minutes, minimally changing the plot. Meanwhile, "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow II" is a loose continuation that used only two scenes from the original film but otherwise had no connection to the original. However, greedy producers used Chan's photo on the poster, even though he didn't star in the sequel. A similar story to "Drunken Master" happened with "Master with Cracked Fingers," another "masterpiece" of collage. This film used fragments of one of Chan's first films, "Little Tiger of Canton," when he was seventeen. New scenes were then shot with actors from "Drunken Master," and a double replaced Jackie Chan. To mask this fact, the double wore an eye patch (suggesting his ability to fight blindfolded)! The dialogue track was then dubbed into English, and the film was released on the American market as "Snake Fist Fighter."

Meanwhile, "Fearless Hyena," starring the real Chan, was very popular, so it was decided to quickly shoot a sequel. In the meantime, Chan began negotiations with a competing film studio and ultimately broke the contract to join Golden Harvest. The producers threatened him with the mafia, but ultimately they finished the film using a double. They also used alternate shots filmed for "Fearless Hyena," the previous production. The resulting film was so bad that Chan decided to sue the creators, but he lost the case. From then on, he increasingly fought for artistic control over his image, especially in action scenes.

"Battle Creek Brawl" from 1980 was his first attempt to conquer Hollywood. The film was directed by Robert Clouse, and the crew included many people who had previously worked on "Enter the Dragon." The producers expected a comparable hit but were disappointed with the box office results. The failure can be attributed to American working standards. "The Protector" from 1985 also aimed to conquer the foreign market. Unfortunately, conflicts with the director during filming led to the creation of two different versions of the film. The plot was cleaned up, and Chan removed material that Chinese viewers might find offensive. Swearing was cut, and nude scenes in the laboratory were replaced with newly shot material. The soundtrack was also slightly changed. As a result, the original version, made for the American audience, was a financial failure. Meanwhile, the version Chan expanded and edited himself in Hong Kong made good money, though significantly less than Chan's previous films. It is worth noting that imported productions from Hong Kong in the West were often dubbed, re-edited, and had their titles changed (hence "The Chinese Connection" is known as "Fist of Fury").

In the DVD extra material for “Battle Creek Brawl,” Chan mentioned the differences between American and Chinese action cinema. In Hollywood, producers have more money than time, and insurance companies forbid stars from performing risky scenes. Even if the actor performed their moves one after another, in the edited film, they were presented in separate shots. Chan preferred the style of shooting many takes, but in continuity and wide shot. This allowed for showcasing the art of martial arts and maintaining a rhythm unbroken by cuts. In America, a cut appears after every hit, sometimes not even showing the fist hitting the body. In Hong Kong, if a hit is divided, the second shot repeats a few frames from the previous one to make the blow seem even more powerful. Thanks to lower production costs in his native country, Chan could also train tirelessly without worrying about numerous takes. The final effect mattered. Jackie Chan is a star of his own format. His working methods yield results. Besides, he is considered a legend because he performs all his stunts himself (often getting injured). Last year, he received an honorary Oscar from Sylvester Stallone for his lifetime achievement, which includes over 200 films. As we know, some of them are reworks of earlier productions.

Stallone and the Sins of Youth

Sylvester Stallone struggled for years to break through. He played bit parts in films by Alan Pakula, Woody Allen, and appeared in "Kojak." Living on the brink of poverty, he was eventually inspired by a fight between Muhammad Ali and wrote a screenplay about a low-rank boxer who gets a shot at fame. Thus "Rocky" was born, where Stallone played the boxer nicknamed the Italian Stallion, earning two Oscar nominations (for Best Actor and Screenplay). He never again received such an honor. It was only forty years later, for his role in the seventh part of "Rocky," that the Academy once again honored him... with a nomination.

Meanwhile, Stallone took advantage of his fame, fighting for better contracts, including trying his hand as a director of "Paradise Alley" and the second part of "Rocky." Someone remembered that before the current star reached the top, he had appeared in a nude film from 1970, "The Party at Kitty and Stud's." Stallone explained that he was paid $200 for two days of shooting. Besides, he had been living on the street for three weeks, and since no one paid him for walking around naked, he decided to act in porn. The crafty producers of this recording, right after the premiere of "Rocky," released the same production, now titled "The Italian Stallion." It was not the only instance where Stallone fell victim to exploitation.

In 1970, he starred in a crime film titled "No Place to Hide." The plot concerned a group of student rebels in the Flower Children era who plan to bomb the New York offices of industrialists doing business with South American dictators. The FBI tracks them down as they make contact with a known terrorist and sniper. Stallone played one of the smaller roles, but in 1980 the film was renamed "Rebel" and re-edited to suggest he played the main character. Ten years later, the film was reworked again, this time giving it a literally comedic tone (in the spirit of Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?"). This time, scenes were re-edited using failed takes and adding comic sound effects, slowing down some scenes, adding a panting voice, etc. "A Man Called... Rainbo" on the posters stylistically referenced the image of Rambo, which Stallone had created in three action films so far. Interestingly, the film even won a few awards at comedy festivals, where the concept and execution were appreciated.

In Turkish and in "Swedish"

Hollywood – Made in Turkey

Parody sometimes becomes the only means of creative expression. This was the case for years in Turkey, where the demand for entertainment cinema never declined, with a particular surge in the sixties and seventies. Television had not yet entered homes, so cinema was the main form of entertainment. At the same time, the film industry practically did not exist: there were neither film schools nor laboratories for film processing. However, the audience demanded entertainment.

Turkish filmmakers shamelessly copied not only scripts but even costumes and entire scenes. They often created unofficial remakes. Rather liberal copyright laws provided significant artistic freedom and room for creativity. After all, many story patterns are identical; you only need to change their content or order. Stories of betrayal or revenge never go out of style. The director usually had only a week to shoot a full-length film, making twenty a year. There was no time to argue about script nuances. Film was a scarce commodity smuggled from abroad like drugs. No wonder that duplicates were usually not shot, and actors themselves participated in stunt scenes. Westerns were even shot in Turkey, arguing that cowboys did not exist in Spain or Italy either, but that did not prevent the production of spaghetti-westerns.

Turks often literally ripped off Hollywood films. Prints with the latest hits were taken from cinemas, interesting shots copied, and the prints returned in the morning. Hollywood would never allow licensing these fragments. Accident or explosion scenes were treated like modern stock footage collections. "The Man Who Saved the World" contains excerpts from nineteen films, including space battles cut from "Star Wars." These scenes were projected in the background using rear projection, and the actor in a motorcycle helmet was filmed in the foreground. Thanks to the magic of editing, it seemed he was really participating in a space battle.

The music was exploited even more. Themes from Indiana Jones or the main theme from "The Godfather" and "Enter the Dragon" were among the most frequently repeated melodies. Since the crews couldn't afford catering, why spend money on an orchestra and compose music? It is not surprising that the Turkish audience watched alternative stories of heroes like Rambo, Dracula, Tarzan, Rocky, or Superman. They also reworked hits like "Some Like It Hot," "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Exorcist," "Star Trek," and "Jaws." Poetic license meant that Superman had additional abilities, and Batman didn't disdain bed adventures. In Turkey, Spiderman, Captain America, and Fantomas could appear in one film, something that major studios would never allow. In another film, a superhero wore a Fantomas mask, Superman's shirt, and Batman's belt – the viewer got three heroes in one!

After the coup in the eighties, the government changed, and the number of productions significantly dropped. Censorship problems also arose. The video market came to the rescue. These productions often ended up in Germany, home to the largest Turkish immigrant community. Over time, the market liberalized, real American productions began to enter cinemas, and knock-offs were forgotten. In 2014, German television made a full-length documentary "Remake Remix Ripoff" dedicated to the culture of copying in Turkish popular cinema. The director creatively combined interviews with filmmakers and the most interesting fragments of their works. Today, few of these films are available as they were lost or destroyed. No one created archives, so these dubious quality productions are lost forever. Perhaps what could save them is making a remake. Or rather, a "Swedish" version.

Swedish Films

In 2008, at the height of DVD popularity (which passed even faster than the cult of video), French artist Michel Gondry created a nostalgic comedy about video store employees titled "Be Kind Rewind." Additionally, it sparked an interesting trend in pop culture. The original title "Be Kind Rewind" referred to the popular label on tapes advising to rewind the tape before returning it to the rental store.

The plot of the film revolves around a reckless employee who one evening comes into contact with electricity and becomes magnetized as a result. Unaware of his condition, he returns to the video store and accidentally erases the content of all the videotapes due to the radiation from his body. This spells financial disaster for the uncle running the store, who is temporarily away on a business trip. Meanwhile, customers are demanding the latest releases. Here comes the revelation (and viewers must suspend business logic). The boys at the video store, having memorized all the films, decide to shoot imitations of these productions according to the customers' demands. Just wait one day for the finished film. Wrapped in aluminum foil, they shoot favorite scenes from "Ghostbusters" – this version, according to their audience, is shorter and different from what they remembered from the previous screening, but they like it more. They hear the explanation that it is the same film, just in a "Swedish" version. This is supposed to explain the higher rental price and longer wait time. Thus, the two protagonists are engaged daily in producing another low-budget remake. Next up are "Robocop" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Carrie," and even the documentary "When We Were Kings" with Muhammad Ali. Over time, their own productions become so popular that the rental store experiences a boom, and the creators become celebrities. Their slogan: "You say what you want, and we film it."

"Swedish" films, however, went far beyond the popularity of Gondry's work. On the official website, the director prepared a "Swedish" version of the trailer in which he himself appeared. Visitors were encouraged to "Swede" by uploading a photo of their face onto a videotape cover. YouTube also encouraged uploading one's own films. The internet began to flood with short, budget-free films that abstractly imitated Hollywood's biggest hits. The more cheaply made, the funnier. The more creative the techniques, the more interesting. The planes from "Top Gun" were presented as cutouts glued to pencils moved in front of the camera. Often, toy cars were used in chase scenes. Unable to afford stars, actors wore paper masks with their likenesses. Michel Gondry himself decided to make his own "Swedish" film by reworking Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," playing the lead role himself.

Simply typing any Hollywood hit title that comes to mind with the addition of "sweded" into a search engine will surely yield a handful of amateur interpretations. The idea even spawned its own thematic event – Sweded Fest, which has been held regularly since 2008. This is how a crazy film born from a fascination with video culture led to the creation of a cult in the age of the internet and digital cameras. Anyone can make such productions. In a sense, they represent collective memories of films – memories built by the originals.

All in the Hands of the Audience

Fan Fiction

Today, fans have more technical capabilities in creating fan fiction, i.e., self-made projects referring to favorite characters from the cinema. In addition to popular stories and novels on the Internet, we increasingly admire moving images. When Michael Wiese (now a recognized film book publisher) produced the first parody of "Star Wars" in 1978, he had to use equipment available in his own garage. Hence, in the short production, irons, toasters, and cassette recorders appeared, and the lightsaber was replaced by a fluorescent lamp. The film was so innovative that it won over 15 main awards at various festivals and is considered the most profitable short film in cinema history – with a budget of $8,000, it earned a million dollars! This title also gained recognition from George Lucas himself, who called it his favorite parody. Today, the trend of fan films using the theme of "Star Wars" constitutes its own microcosm, crowned by the event called the Star Wars Fan Film Awards.

    And since Poles are not behind, fifteen years ago a trailer for the film "Stars in Black" appeared, in which Staszek Mąderek included numerous references to the popular series. He also introduced many shots with complex special effects, using experience gained in shooting commercials. What was initially meant to be a joke turned into a project to shoot a full-length parody. Unfortunately, despite the involvement of names like Michał Żebrowski, the project has yet to reach completion. After all, it is a non-profit production made in free time. The creator continues to shoot new scenes, and technology has significantly evolved in the meantime.

On a slightly different end of the fan-fiction spectrum are amateur superhero productions. Besides the inevitable parodies, some have even spawned their own franchises. This was the case with Batman in Aaron Schoenke's interpretation, where some see a successor to Christopher Nolan himself. The California-based filmmaker, along with his father Sean, has already produced several medium-length films about the Dark Knight, giving them an individual style. Besides a new Batman logo, the creator introduced stylistic changes concerning costumes, makeup, set design, and even the Batmobile. His intention was to focus on the psychological background of the Joker character, although he handles action scenes much better than dramatic ones. Schoenke founded the company Bat In The Sun and announced plans to introduce characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, and others into his productions. His amateur productions cannot be denied a professional look, and it is strange that Hollywood has not yet taken notice of him.

The popularity of various types of behind-the-scenes materials like "making of" has greatly brought the magic of cinema closer to the audience. In addition to directors' commentaries on special edition DVDs, we can also find deleted scenes, promotional photos, camera tests, TV spots, interviews, storyboards, animatics, and sometimes stills and textual information. Nothing prevents collecting such audiovisual clips into a documentary film dictated by one's own narrative. Jamie Benning, who coined the term Filmumentary, started from this premise. One of his first projects was an original making of "Star Wars" titled "Building Empire." Using various hard-to-access materials, Benning compiled a two-hour collage. Having unlimited time for research, he could dig up real gems. He added his own narrative and commentary to the film, but did not rely solely on his findings, as in several cases he conducted original interviews (sometimes via Skype) with cast or crew members! The non-profit project fits into the American Fair Use rule, allowing for critical and educational uses. The immense interest from Internet users motivated him to work on other Lucas and Spielberg films. The "Indiana Jones" trilogy and "Jaws" have also been developed.

From Fake Trailer to Feature Film

Thanks to non-linear editing programs, an infinite number of options for presenting filmed shots can be created, something that was time-consuming and sometimes irreversible in the era of film tape. Nowadays, all computer operating systems have a built-in editing program, so anyone can experiment with any film, creating derivative works – whether it be a collage of the funniest scenes, an alternative trailer, or even an alternative version of the film.

A trailer is a powerful tool that can suggest what to expect from a given film premiere. There was an outcry from a woman who demanded a refund when it turned out that Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive" did not resemble "The Fast and the Furious," as the dynamic trailer had suggested. "Drive," full of long, poetic shots, interspersed only occasionally with fast-paced action – which captivated critics – was almost the complete opposite of racing films. The charm of a trailer lies in attracting audiences to the cinema without revealing too much. Why go to the cinema if everything has already been explained? Another production, "The Road," has a much more misleading trailer, as Charlize Theron appears to be the main character, while her character dies before the opening credits and is seen only in flashbacks.

Fake trailers are a completely different category. Usually, they serve as a joke to diversify the main film or deliberately mislead viewers. This was the case with the comedy "UHF," where Al Yankovic included a trailer for the film "Gandhi II," in which the Indian pacifist turns into a Rambo-like avenger. "Kentucky Fried Movie" mimicked a typical television schedule full of talk shows, commercials, and news (almost like "Monty Python's Flying Circus"), and its creators were the later creators of "The Naked Gun." One of the blocks in this film was a fake trailer titled "Cleopatra Schwartz" – a parody of the blaxploitation genre, where a character resembling the heroines played by Pam Grier is married to a Jewish rabbi. They form a deadly couple like Bonnie and Clyde.

The metafilm "Last Action Hero" is a satire on Hollywood action cinema clichés starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played himself. At the peak of his fame, the leading box-office actor plays an actor in action cinema. His fan is a young boy who watches all his films until he is literally sucked through the screen to join the cinematic world and become the hero's partner. An interesting joke was introducing a fake trailer featuring Schwarzenegger as Hamlet. The scene where he ponders over a skull and asks, "To be or not to be," followed by a shootout and explosions, is funnier than the rest of the film.

The screening of "Tropic Thunder," whose protagonists were fictional Hollywood actors, was preceded by three fake trailers, designed to introduce the main characters to the audience. "Tropic Thunder" is a comedy about three film industry personalities who are cast in a war movie. During their preparation for the role, they go on a training mission in the jungle and unexpectedly find themselves cut off from logistical support, testing their characters. To enhance the self-referential nature, a special report on the making of this war film was created for the DVD, which was also heavily fictionalized. Ben Stiller played a character resembling Sylvester Stallone, who thought he could act in dramas besides action films. Jack Black referenced the overweight characters played by Chris Farley. Robert Downey Jr. played a chameleon actor, modeled after Robert De Niro or Daniel Day-Lewis. For the war film that is part of "Tropic Thunder," his character changes his skin tone to black. The dedication paid off, as Downey Jr. earned an Oscar nomination.

Sometimes playing with form becomes reality. In the "Grindhouse" project by Tarantino and Rodriguez, the joint screening of "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror" was divided by fake trailers for similarly styled productions. Interestingly, "Machete" and "Hobo with a Shotgun" were developed into full-length versions following fan response. Recently, it was reported that the creator of the film "Rec" will create a feature-length version of the fake trailer "Maldito viernes," which has already spawned a comic series. In this sense, a trailer can be considered a marketing product testing the demand for a film... or perhaps even previs.

Today, in the age of crowdfunding, a short clip capturing the aura of a project can determine its "to be or not to be." This was the case with the aforementioned "Stars in Black," which is still awaiting completion. More fortunate was the Swedish project of another specialist in commercials and special effects. "Kung Fury" initially existed as a humorous video evoking nostalgia for 1980s pop culture and themes such as private detectives, karate, video games, and time travel. The project raised over half a million dollars on Kickstarter needed for post-production, and its premiere took place simultaneously on YouTube, the Steam platform, the El Rey TV network, and... at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section. The half-hour film was watched by over 10 million viewers in three days!

Retrailer

A retrailer, according to Wikipedia, is a parody of a trailer made using editing software based on the original trailer. With the spread of simple editing programs, the number of trailer remakes is growing. One of the first such videos was the clip "Kill Christ," which juxtaposed "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson and "Kill Bill Vol. 1" by Quentin Tarantino. This type of fun allows changing the genre of an existing film. According to Sergei Eisenstein: editing is an idea that arises from the collision of independent, even opposing shots, which ultimately create a dramatic effect.

Fans show what the trailer for the next "Expendables" might look like by using fragments from any of the actors' previous films and suggesting they form a whole. Using Lev Kuleshov's effect – shots taken out of context that create new meaning through collision with counter-shots – action and reaction can finally be shown. The simplest scheme used is utilizing the soundtrack and overlaying the main scenes of the original trailer with something visually similar. Thus, fans of "Miami Vice" could watch a trailer for the theatrical production using shots from the TV series, and Sean Connery fans saw a trailer for the latest Bond with his participation (actually using action scenes from "The Hunt for Red October," "The Rock," and "Entrapment"). On the occasion of the premiere of "Spectre," fans presented the same story but with fragments of Roger Moore's films. After all, similar scenes repeat almost circularly in all parts (car chase, casino scene, skiing downhill on snow). Following the popularity of the meme, versions of "Spectre" with other actors: Connery, Dalton, and Brosnan appeared. Polish internet users specialized in advertising domestic mega-productions in a style that exaggerated American realities. Such conservative films as "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge," "Sami Swoi," "Pan Tadeusz," or "Janosik" were given new vigor with the dynamic form known from Hollywood trailers. The best specialist in this field is considered to be Cyber Marian. The reverse trend is trailers from the series "If Poles Made..." – here, the best American productions are botched by highlighting their worst and dullest features.

Another way to create a viral video in trailer form is by altering the soundtrack. Each trailer usually follows its own narrative. By changing the music, the voice-over text, and carefully selected shots from the film, the reception can be completely changed. Thus, the comedy "Dumb and Dumber" was presented as a crime thriller about a kidnapping, and the horror "The Shining" as a family comedy. "Schindler's List" is the most controversial idea, as the Holocaust drama was presented in the form of a romantic comedy, where the titular bachelor Schindler is looking for a wife by creating a special list of favorites!

Special Edition - Fan Version

In film school, it's taught that each director creates their own individual style. This means that from the same script, each would create a completely different story. Some of these fictional comparisons can be seen on YouTube channels (e.g., how a Christmas comedy would look if directed by the Coen brothers, Tarantino, Kubrick, Lynch, etc.). But fun is not everything.

Distributors often disfigure films, thwarting the director's intentions. The popularization of DVD extras in the form of alternative endings or deleted scenes allows insight into how a given film might have looked. Some directors even encourage such play. Christopher Nolan's famous "Memento" is a story told in reverse about a protagonist suffering from memory loss who is searching for his wife's murderer. Wanting to see how the story would look chronologically, many fans re-edited the order of the scenes. Unnecessarily. On the anniversary of "Memento," Nolan released an alternative version on DVD. The story is equally strong, perhaps a bit clearer in the narrative, but telling it backward changes the viewer's experience. This approach makes "Memento" just an excellent thriller. The famous achronological structure of the work was what our minds constantly tried to rearrange in order and tried not to forget what happened earlier. The viewer had as much confusion as the main character of the film. Similarly, Francois Ozon did the same in the drama "5 x 2," which told the story of a marriage from the moment of divorce to the first meeting. Only for DVD distribution did he decide to show an alternative chronological version, "2 x 5." However, in the 21st century, fans no longer have to wait for the official distribution of alternative or director's versions.

An amateur editor can change the order of scenes, add alternative versions, change the music, or shorten lengthy moments. I wrote in a previous article about the case of "Superman II," where it was a bootleg version that contributed to restoring Richard Donner's vision, the original director of the sequel, almost 25 years later. Fan versions are popular on the fanedit.org service, where there is even an instruction on how to prepare a film. The first rule for viewers is that they must have a copy of the original film at home to use fragments or even watch such a fanedit. This is out of respect for copyright laws. The legal status is difficult to determine, as lawmakers did not foresee such developments. However, all fan films are created for non-commercial purposes, which can be considered to fall within the scope of fair use.

The first fan edit is considered to be George Lucas's megaproduction "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." Twenty years after the premiere of the original trilogy, fan expectations were enormous, and instead of meeting them, Lucas went in the opposite direction. He added a lot of unnecessary gags, computer-generated characters, CGI-dominated scenery, and the story dragged on terribly. Professional editor Mike J. Nichols, hiding under the pseudonym Phantom Editor, removed all the irritating elements from the production. His work gained media attention for attempting to improve the original film, which to this day enjoys deserved criticism. Since then, dozens of fan edits of "The Phantom Menace," the most hated film in the series, have been created. This shows that viewers can have their own vision, which does not have to align with the director's intentions. One of the strangest edits is "The Silent Menace." Instead of fixing script or editing errors or muting the annoying Jar-Jar Binks, the editor muted all sound effects and dialogues. The only sound layer left was John Williams's musical compositions. Adding subtitles with dialogues makes the (American) viewer feel like they are watching a foreign film... and they have much more fun.

"True Romance" – the cult film by Tony Scott based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino – also went under the fans' cutting. Alongside "Natural Born Killers," it was his second screenplay sold to other directors. Unfortunately, Tony Scott had a slightly different vision, so the film disappointed some viewers. As we know, Tarantino loves achronological stories, and here fans gave him justice by reorganizing the order of scenes, also using deleted scenes and the alternative ending. It is certainly a version that the screenplay's creator would approve. A similar experiment was the re-edit of Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers." Stone wouldn't be himself if he didn't change the story in his own way, adding new scenes and characters, which led Tarantino to threaten to withdraw his name from the credits. This time, fans wanting to reflect the original vision of the work could only cut out unnecessary embellishments, shortening the film to almost an hour.

Due to creative inventiveness, one of the most interesting fan versions is the project titled "Memories Alone." When filming "Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky admitted that he sees the film as a parallel to the fate of the protagonist from his previous production, "The Wrestler." After all, both films share a similar narrative line, as they concern the extraordinary sacrifice of one's body for a demanding public performance. The "Memories Alone" project combines the two stories using an interesting binding: Mickey Rourke becomes Natalie Portman's father.

Even further in colliding different film worlds goes "Bateman Returns." Utilizing the fact that Christian Bale starred in "American Psycho," "The Machinist," and the Batman films, the creator of the re-edit made a collage of these films. It shows the corruption of the main character's psyche, who sinks into his numerous alter egos as: Patrick Bateman and his murderous reflection, Bruce Wayne and Batman, and Trevor Reznik. Only through this meta-mechanism can we believe why other characters call the hero by so many different names. Just like in "American Psycho." In all this madness, the plot still holds together.

Full Movie Version on VK

The most comprehensive compilation of films is the project titled "50 Years of James Bond: The Movie" – a unique marathon of 22 Bond films edited into a single (two-hour) action film. The editing algorithm was very simple. The first scene was taken from the first film in the series, the second from the second, and so on. The project confirmed the formulaic nature of Bond productions, but the editor showed creativity as some cuts were made mid-action almost imperceptibly. The scene in "Licence to Kill" ends at the airport, the scene from "GoldenEye" begins with Bond on a plane. Then from the submarine ("Tomorrow Never Dies") transitions to the sinking warship ("The World Is Not Enough"), and then is already on board the Antonov plane ("Die Another Day"). Nearly 5 million viewers watched the production on YouTube (although at the time of writing, the original video file has already been removed).

Classic Cinema Reimagined

Soderbergh's Mighty Edits

The most famous amateur film re-editor is director Steven Soderbergh. The Oscar winner for "Traffic" has such works to his name as "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "Erin Brockovich," "Solaris," and "Che." The creator, who announced his retirement in 2013, remains active in various fields. Recently, he has been involved in producing an interactive series delivered on smartphones. Besides, at the request of Spike Jonze, he shortened his futuristic film "Her" from 150 to 90 minutes. Soderbergh, who acted as a cameraman and editor for many of his productions (though using pseudonyms), knows his craft well. One of his passions is creating his versions of favorite films, which he publishes on his website.

    This was the case with Hitchcock's famous "Psycho" and its infamous remake "Psycho" by Gus Van Sant, who deliberately used not only the identical script but also the shots and editing, shot-by-shot. Soderbergh mixed these two versions (removing color from the newer film). It turned out that Van Sant did not create a perfect copy of the master's shots everywhere, and by contrasting both titles, his remake falls decidedly weaker than when viewed alone. Another interesting experiment by Soderbergh was uploading a black-and-white and soundless version of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," under which he entirely laid the subdued music from "The Social Network." His goal was to allow viewers to study the visual aspects of the film separately from the plot. After all, the only way to analyze the cinematography and editing of any film objectively is to watch it without sound.

In 2015, the creative filmmaker posted a shortened version of "2001: A Space Odyssey," from which he cut a lot of material from the first part of the film, especially the extensive dialogues. This made the narrative more consistent with the overall message of this metaphysical sci-fi film. However, at the request of Kubrick's heirs, the video was removed from the website. The film that drove Soderbergh to madness was "Heaven's Gate," an unfortunate production that ended the autonomy of directors after the 1970s era known as New Hollywood. The Oscar-winning Michael Cimino's work is considered one of the worst films in history. One summer in 2006, during a vacation, Soderbergh took to making corrections. He called his edition the Butcher's Cut, as he removed nearly half the footage and moved the prologue to the end. In the opening credits, he ironically added a card: "I admit that what I did with this film is both immoral and illegal."

The Master's Touch

Michael Cimino was not the first filmmaker whose film was ruined by producers. Sometimes, it takes years for a film to be resurrected. This was the case with "Touch of Evil," one of the best works by the genius Orson Welles, who returned to Hollywood after a ten-year exile to shoot it. After filming, Welles did not have much time for editing, as he was more occupied with finding funding for his next film in Mexico. The convoluted plot of "Touch of Evil" caused some difficulties in reception. The producers cleverly took advantage of the director's absence and forced the crew to shoot additional scenes to clarify some of the sequences. Welles did not like this version and wrote a 58-page memo detailing how the film should be edited. He was aware that some plot points might be unclear, but that was the charm of film noir. Unfortunately, the memo was ignored, and as a result, the film enjoyed moderate success in theaters. It was promoted as a B-movie accompanying another premiere.

    Eighteen years later, the first edited version was discovered in the Universal studio archives. It was 15 minutes longer and contained all the scenes cut in 1958, but it did not include Welles's suggested revisions. However, considering Welles's reputation among cinephiles, the studio re-released "Touch of Evil," advertising it as a director's cut (which still contained many reshoots done without the director's consent). Only forty years after its premiere – and after Welles's death – was the film re-edited according to the creator's vision.

For the reconstruction, Walter Murch was invited due to his influential lectures on editing. Murch, who won three Oscars in his career and was a significant collaborator of George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, now had free rein to use the raw footage and reassemble the film according to Welles's memo. He approached the task with the attention it deserved. First, he removed the opening credits from the introductory sequence, which distracted from the visual material. He also added more diegetic sound effects – those coming from the scene itself – instead of the flat layer of Henry Mancini's music. He changed the order of some shots – in the final scene, where the police officer played by Welles walks out of the bar to his death, Marlene Dietrich's gaze is more subtle, as she looks up at him only after he has disappeared through the door (thus avoiding eye contact, unlike in the original version). Murch also cut some studio-added scenes that over-explained the story. The producers had simplified the story in such a way that Charlton Heston's character became the main protagonist. Murch restored the balance among the three main characters' storylines. Unfortunately, he could not always use the original footage, so he sometimes had to utilize studio reshoots. Nevertheless, he managed to create a more coherent and clear version of the masterpiece. As a result, "Touch of Evil" was re-released in theaters for the third time in 1998 and hailed as a masterpiece. It's surprising that Chili Palmer in the comedy "Get Shorty" is fascinated by the original version, which was not yet so perfected.

Metropolis à la Moroder

Giorgio Moroder – a three-time Oscar winner for music and a pioneer of electronic and disco music – has returned to show business after a two-decade hiatus. However, his interests go far beyond creating music and songs for works like "Midnight Express," "Scarface," "Flashdance," and "Top Gun." Besides producing a limited edition sixteen-cylinder race car based on a Lamborghini, one of his most significant non-musical endeavors was the restoration of "Metropolis," the cult work of German expressionism. Moroder had loved this film since childhood, and it influenced many sci-fi productions, especially those like "Blade Runner," "Star Wars," and "The Matrix." However, in the 1980s, when video rental stores began gaining popularity, the film was practically unavailable to viewers and was considered lost. Moroder acquired the rights to the film from the heirs and visited archives in several places around the world, where he bought damaged negatives.

Besides colorizing and restoring the image, the ingenious producer decided to make revolutionary changes to present the work anew to contemporary audiences. Firstly, instead of the title cards characteristic of silent films, he introduced subtitles. He also accelerated the frame rate, which adjusted the action's rhythm to modern projectors. This is why the film has a much shorter runtime, as the title cards were also cut. Thirdly and most importantly, he added his musical compositions performed by contemporary pop rock stars, including the band Queen. All the songs featured in the film were created specifically for this project. Moroder's decisions were very controversial, and many criticized the artist's whims, leading to several Golden Raspberry nominations. However, at that time, viewers had no other access to the film. It was only twenty years later, when the original tapes in much better condition were found and digital reconstruction became feasible, that the German film archive prepared a more complete version of Fritz Lang's film. Before the war, "Metropolis" – the biggest production of its time – was presented in several different versions. Moroder's version is largely forgotten today, but who knows if, without his initiative, anyone could boast of watching this classic of the genre today.

From Fan Version to Director's Cut

Brian De Palma, early in his career, was fascinated by the work of Jean-Luc Godard, but later Alfred Hitchcock became the master he frequently imitated. His "Obsession" is a variation on "Vertigo," "Body Double" uses tropes from "Rear Window" and "Vertigo," and "Dressed to Kill" references elements of "Psycho." Critics who were offended by the violence in his films called him a Hitchcock imitator, overlooking the fact that De Palma was perfecting his style. One of his mature but underrated works is "Raising Cain."

In 2012 – twenty years after its premiere – a re-edit project was initiated by a Dutch De Palma fan, who is a professional television director. Peet Belder Gelderblom, having access only to the final version of the film and the original screenplay (then titled "Father's Day"), meticulously worked on changing the chronology of events, which had been imposed by the studio. The amateur restored the director's original vision as an educational project. Without access to alternative takes, he sometimes had to duplicate shots. The film's content did not change, so the runtime remained the same, but the order of scenes significantly altered the understanding of the characters' motivations.

The re-edit offers the audience a completely different chronology and time loop, something De Palma had been experimenting with for years. The studio wanted to market the film as a romantic thriller, but poor audience test results led them to promote it as a black comedy. Gelderblom decided to follow the romance route, making the story of the main character's lover an integral part of the plot, rather than a side story. In the original version, this romance seemed unnecessary and distracting. The main character in the new version is also more serious, as we do not meet him for the first time in an emotionally broken scene. This makes the scene where he starts strangling his wife at the end of the first act shocking for the audience. In the original version, he learns about his wife's affair at the beginning, which loses the suspense. Hence, the murder of the lover is surprising, as the audience has already become accustomed to him. This is reminiscent of the technique used in Hitchcock's "Psycho" (which De Palma frequently imitated), where the main character dies halfway through the film. In the new version, the film begins with a family idyll, allowing the characters to be better understood. The author maximized the use of flashbacks and dream sequences. These changes make the film closer to De Palma's auteur projects.

After four years, this educational fan edit made its way to the master himself, who was delighted with it. He sent the creator a congratulatory letter saying that the film was now closer to his original vision that he had in mind when he was writing the screenplay. Thanks to De Palma's efforts, this version was released on Blu-ray along with the original film. In the eyes of his idol, Gelderblom gained full recognition. The studio's lawyers just had to make sure that no scenes were added or removed. The author of the edit now remotely supervised the editing on the master copy in Hollywood and recorded a special introduction for this edition in his studio in the Netherlands, where he explained the genesis of the project and the changes made. He argues that works such as "Pulp Fiction", "21 Grams" or "Memento" broke the barrier of linear storytelling, which audiences were not ready for when De Palma made "Raising Cain". This is a unique case where a fan version not only fulfills its narrative purpose, but also gains the creator's approval and becomes the official director's cut.

Beyond Feature Films

What if…

A separate category of derivative works consists of documentaries about films that were never realized. Based on archival materials, they bring closer the context in which the creator placed their story and the production challenges they faced. These documentaries resemble an attempt to reconstruct unfinished works.

Some mega-productions, despite high budgets and advanced development stages, never materialized. Such was the case with "Superman Lives" – an ambitious project by Tim Burton, which aimed to revolutionize the popular superhero genre among teenagers by adding more darkness and maturity. Between 1994 and 1998, the script underwent numerous changes. A significant portion of the costs was consumed by research into creating a costume for the long-haired Nicolas Cage. Ultimately, Warner Bros. studio's problems following the failure of "Batman & Robin" halted the filming. The documentary "The Death of ‘Superman Lives’: What Happened?" tells the story of this infamous film, featuring interviews with Kevin Smith and Tim Burton, and includes numerous storyboards, test photos, and the original superhero comic. Interestingly, the funds for the documentary were raised through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Without fan support, this documentary would not have materialized.

Another troubled film was "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," an unfortunate tale of a mad knight starring Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, and Jean Rochefort. Terry Gilliam began filming in 2000 with a budget of 32 million dollars. However, obstacles such as a flood that destroyed the set, the illness of the main actor, insurance problems, and then financial issues emerged. The simultaneously produced "Lost in La Mancha" started as a standard making-of report but later became a witness to the disaster. The full-length documentary was released in 2002 as an independent production. It shows the difficulties the crew faced, drawing parallels between Don Quixote and the director's efforts. Despite filming most of the scenes, Terry Gilliam never finished the work, although he attempted to do so eight times over nineteen years. Critic Leonard Maltin called "Lost in La Mancha" one of the best films about the filmmaking process. Several years later, Gilliam was on the brink of repeating a similar experience.

    During the filming of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," the lead actor Heath Ledger tragically passed away. For the director, this was a huge blow, as only 30% of the material had been shot, and Ledger's participation was crucial. However, the imaginative director did not give up and added a new interpretation to the film. The film interweaves several storylines non-linearly, and the plot involves magical journeys in dreams, so nothing prevented the main character's appearance from undergoing slight changes. As a result, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, and Jude Law, who resembled Ledger in appearance, played his character, paying tribute to their deceased friend. The scenes shot with Ledger now represented only the real world, while the rest were newly filmed. This step resembled the use of doubles in "Game of Death," but its subtlety lay in the fact that each actor was given a separate part of the plot. The change in appearance was thus consistent with the screenplay, which involved the physical transformations of the main character in the world of Doctor Parnassus's Imaginarium.

Equally unfortunate was Henri-Georges Clouzot, a critically acclaimed and public favorite, considered Alfred Hitchcock's greatest rival. His "Diabolique" and "The Wages of Fear" are regarded as the best thrillers of the decade. With an unlimited budget, Clouzot began work on "Inferno," a film that was supposed to change the way stories were told in cinema. In 1964, the actors and crew went to the Boulogne studio for a few days of tests, which stretched into months. Columbia Pictures did not spare any expense on innovations in new forms of expression. Pop Art dominated the art world, and psychedelic themes were popular. "Inferno" was supposed to explore jealousy and madness, and the director sought visual equivalents for these states of mind. One method involved placing rotating lamps on a special rig positioned between the camera and the actors. The manipulation of light resulted in the main character's perception being distorted. Unfortunately, when the lead actor left the set, having had enough, the production was halted and never completed. Clouzot fell ill and died several years later. His screenplay was used by Claude Chabrol, who made his own version of "Inferno" in 1994, but the film passed without much notice.

In 2009, a semi-documentary "L’Enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot" was produced, containing test footage showing what the planned film was supposed to look like. The director of this documentary accidentally got stuck in an elevator for two hours with Clouzot's widow, who confessed that her husband's greatest regret was not finishing "Inferno." She revealed the existence of 185 reels of film (over thirteen hours of footage) containing test scenes, costume tests, and lighting experiments (though the sound tapes were lost). The documentary's creators sifted through this material, adding all the dialogues and sound effects and shooting additional scenes in the studio with a pair of young actors to fill the gaps. Fifty years after the start of filming, this unfinished masterpiece was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the out-of-competition section, as well as at festivals in New York, Toronto, London, and Rotterdam. The film also won the César Award for Best Documentary. More awards would undoubtedly have poured in for the original project if it had been completed.

We will never know what "Dune" would have looked like if it had been directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky instead of David Lynch. Lynch's adaptation still enjoys a considerable cult following even beyond his fans, but Jodorowsky stands in a league of his own. His psychomagic productions, financially supported by the likes of the Beatles, opened viewers to new fields of perception. The challenging distribution of his works led the Chilean creator to illegally distribute pirated versions of his films to reach his audience. In 1973, Jodorowsky acquired the rights to Frank Herbert's "Dune." He wanted to involve such luminaries as Salvador Dali, Amanda Lear, Orson Welles, Mick Jagger, Gloria Swanson, and David Carradine. For the soundtrack, he aimed to enlist progressive rock musicians like Pink Floyd, Magma, and Mike Oldfield, so each planet in the film would have its unique sound. Seeking the best visual specialists, he rejected Douglas Trumbull (known for "2001: A Space Odyssey") for being too technical and not spiritual enough. One of Jodorowsky's most intriguing endeavors was casting his twelve-year-old son in the lead role, who underwent rigorous physical training daily for two years. Nearly 20% of the budget was spent solely on pre-production. Before filming began, the entire movie was illustrated in storyboard form as a book. Ultimately, due to financial reasons, the project was halted. Studios were wary of a thematically mature film on such a scale. Metaphysics and spirituality were not their domain. Above all, they feared Jodorowsky himself, known for his controversial nature.

Dino De Laurentiis acquired the rights to the book and produced "Dune" in 1984, directed by David Lynch. This production was a colossal failure, and Lynch distanced himself from the project, claiming the studio deprived him of artistic control. However, the documentary "Jodorowsky’s Dune," which premiered at Cannes in 2013, reveals Jodorowsky's intentions. The premiere of the documentary helped remind the cinema world of this extraordinary director, who resumed filmmaking after a 23-year hiatus. Some critics regard his "Dune" as the greatest movie never made.

Based on extensive storyboards, illustrations, and interviews with Jodorowsky himself, the documentary shows that his vision exceeded the studio's capabilities, despite planning every shot and special effect for each sequence. However, the efforts were not in vain. During the film's funding phase, the storyboards reached all major Hollywood studios, inspiring later filmmakers of "Star Wars," "Flash Gordon," and "The Terminator." The team Jodorowsky assembled went on to work on "Alien." Without this film, there would be no "Blade Runner," and without "Blade Runner," no "Matrix." In a sense, the message of "Dune" – where the main character is a messiah who dies but begins to live in the blood of his followers – is a metaphor for the impact the unrealized film had on science fiction cinema. Every subsequent generation of creators builds on the legacy of their predecessors.

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As the examples above illustrate, there are different approaches to the concept of remixing. Some use simple symbolic references as homage or parody. Others exploit a particular theme for quick profit or educational purposes. Most of the productions mentioned in this text would never have existed without the original source film that enjoyed immense interest. Why not tap into a gold mine by creating a derivative product? After all, good artists copy, great artists steal. As viewers, it is up to us to appreciate the efforts of creators who, with varying results, strive to fulfill an idea dictated by their sensitivity, whether it is distorted or proper. Its interpretation ultimately remains with the audience.