I understand, of course I understand. Akira Kurosawa is one of the three greatest directors in the history of cinema, and, since we have been without enjoying his genius for over 30 years, in the absence of a new Kurosawa, there are a few who have decided to copy him. Or rather, create upon what has been created, taking his cinema and giving it a little twist so that it remains, in one way or another, original. Not long ago, Oliver Hermanus adapted the great masterpiece of the director, Ikiru (Living) to the UK with Living. The result was, more than poor, unnecessary, but the floodgates were opened… And of course, Spike Lee has taken up the baton.
Yeah yeah, Kurosawa oh yeah
In 1963, Kurosawa created Hell of Hate, an absolute marvel that is part of his five best works alongside Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Dersu Uzala, and Rashomon. Over six decades, the film has been revered by critics and cinephiles around the world, and rightly so: the suspense builds gradually as only a master could do, culminating in an absolutely unrepeatable third act that has inspired films like Parasite, representing class struggle in modern Japan like no one else. It is a vibrant, necessary, unique, exemplary film. A masterpiece, indeed.
It’s not that the movie, which is also an adaptation of the novel The King’s Rescue by Evan Hunter, hasn’t been adapted before: there’s a Japanese television series, a Bollywood remake and there were even rumors of a version scripted by David Mamet and directed by Martin Scorsese. But of course, Spike Lee, as good as he is (and he is), is not Martin Scorsese, and From Heaven to Hell, his particular tribute to the Japanese master, is a small great nonsense only for those who want to understand it.
Lee, the author of fabulous films like Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, or Summer of Sam, already had a terrible clash with Asian cinema with his particular remake of Old Boy, the masterpiece by Park Chan-Wook. However, after showing the world that he still had a storyteller inside him with things to say thanks to BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods: Brothers in Arms, he has decided to team up with Denzel Washington to tell his vision of Kurosawa’s story. A man, in his ivory tower, whose son is kidnapped on the same day he risks everything he has to close the most important deal of his life. Is it entertaining? Of course. Is it necessary? Certainly not.
This is Lee’s third remake, and he has finally learned something after the previous two: not to replicate the films he wants to pay homage to shot for shot and to make them his own. There is no doubt that From Heaven to Hell is a production that is entirely Lee’s, but it is also one that is far inferior to the original work, and one can only wonder why. To what extent does ego come into play and what was the need to take an immortal work, completely change the third act, and turn it into something more interesting than a remake per se, but still unnecessary. No matter how much A24 and the Cannes Film Festival are involved.
Spike Lee is a great director, but if he stands next to Akira Kurosawa, he will always be overshadowed in any position: it’s not that From Heaven to Hell is a bad movie; it’s that it pales in comparison to the greatness of The Hell of Hate. Lee shows that he is still capable of telling a story about the themes that matter to him, but for that, he should stand on his own. After all, there is only one thing worse than a bad movie: one that has no reason to exist. Fortunately, on Apple TV+ you can see for yourself if that’s the case.
