Movie remakes aren't exactly a new concept, especially when it comes to supernatural and horror movies. The latter genre typically evokes images of slasher films and similar fare, but Gothic fantasy was once tied quite a bit with the genre. The 1930s saw many films released in this vein, and one of these classics was actually remade into a film with a completely different title.
Meet Joe Black is a notable film featuring Brad Pitt as the actor was truly building himself up as one of Hollywood's biggest names, and it had all the ingredients to become a classic. Contemplating the concept of death amid a torrid romance, the film sadly didn't make as big of an impact as it could have. Ironically, it was also a remake of another film from decades beforehand, but that pre-code Gothic movie is ultimately the better version.
Released in 1998, Meet Joe Black was a film that helped end a decade that cemented Brad Pitt as a star. The movie features Pitt in the role of the personification of Death, with "Joe Black" merely a pseudonym he takes in his brief mortal form. He comes to the mortal plane to learn more about how humanity lives, while under the tutelage of a potential target, Bill Parrish (played by Anthony Hopkins).
While posing as a mortal, Joe is completely awestruck by human society and at odds with just about everything, with even the act of eating and drinking being unfamiliar to him. Through these learning pains, he befriends and eventually romances Bill's daughter, Susan, in the form of a young man she had recently met in a coffee shop. This man had actually died in a car accident afterward, with Joe merely taking his form as his human vessel. Learning the joys and beauty of human life, he questions his own role as both he and Bill come to grips with the concept of death.
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Despite a seemingly winning formula, Meet Joe Black failed to be a critical darling or a financial one. The movie only made $140 million USD on a budget of $90 million USD, with the latter figure being particularly egregious given that the film cost only $25 million less than Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. In fact, it's believed that some people only watched Meet Joe Black due to it being one of the only movies to have a trailer for the then-upcoming Star Wars film.
In terms of reception, it was mostly mixed, as many praised the acting and direction amid a somewhat lackluster script with occasionally plodding pacing. The biggest issues were the characters, some of whom felt too shallow or underdeveloped amid such a haunting and serious movie. Susan and Joe's romance was especially half-hearted, which took away from some of the more dramatic elements. As a result, the movie didn't even double its budget, which was itself most bloated by featuring expensive actors in a three-hour film set in New York. Unbeknownst to most moviegoers, however, the 1998 film was actually a remake of a 1930s film.
Released in 1934 (64 years before its remake), Death Takes a Holiday was itself an adaptation of the Italian play La morte in vacanza by Alberto Casella. The general plot is similar to what was used in Meet Joe Black, with Death taking on a mortal form in order to learn more about humanity, namely, to see why he's so feared. Using the guise of "Prince Sirki," he stays as a guest at the estate of Duke Lambert.
Unfamiliar with even basic customs or the mere taste of wine, Sirki soon becomes quite fond of the Duke's daughter, Grazia. This causes consternation in his host, who urges Sirki/Death to leave his daughter among the living. Death is forced to choose between his own desires and fairness toward Grazia, having finally understood the longing that plagues humanity and the reason that they cling to their own mortality. Finally, he laments and returns to his true form as a deathly shroud, cementing the story as a Gothic romance in the era's tradition.
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Death Takes a Holiday and Meet Joe Black are both beautifully shot films with similar plot threads, but there are also several differences. The most obvious would be the settings and time periods, with the former seemingly in a European country in the 1930s while the remake is set in 1998 in New York City. Both movies' love interests are initially in loveless relationships, with both Grazia and Susan unsure of their pending nuptials. The host of Death is changed from a European Duke to an American business magnate, and there's also a bit more obviousness in its fish-out-of-water comedy as Death interacts with mortals.
Even amid this tonal addition, Meet Joe Black is just as somber as the original Gothic movie, if not far more so. This is exemplified in the ending, which sees the aptly-named Bill Parrish die after walking away with Joe. On the other hand, Death Takes a Holiday had Grazia choosing to leave with Death, and she's the one who leaves the mortal plane instead of her father. These elements were part of what made them both very different movies, but there's another big reason as to why the original might be more timeless.
A major part of what makes Death Takes a Holiday so timeless is its Gothic atmosphere, and this isn't simply due to it being in black and white. The movie truly has a foreboding aura about it, namely due to the much more ghastly depiction of Death "himself." He's an actual ghost-like shroud, and while his ignorance of humanity is somewhat comical at times, it ultimately shows just how inhuman he is.
While star Fredric March was seen in a similar sex-symbol light as popular actor Brad Pitt in his day, there's more of an air of elegance than child-like ignorance to his portrayal of the mortal Death. As a result, the character truly comes off as an unknowable force of nature, and this tinge of inhumanity makes the film as a whole far more disturbing. There's also the ending, in which Grazia literally chooses to go with Death due to how out of sorts she feels in her own life. When added to the imagery of the rich estate in the film, it's a truly Gothic story that was right at home in the pre-Code era of Hollywood.
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Compared to the movie that inspired it, the far less Gothic Meet Joe Black is comparatively generic. It's definitely beautiful in its own right, but compared to the classic movie, it sort of blends into the background. Gothic and strong fantasy elements were largely gone, and this removed the almost dream-like phantasm that made the original so beautiful, in spite of its dark tone. It's actually an issue that plagues many remakes, namely those based on old-school horror and Gothic classics. For instance, the 2024 vampire movie Abigail was a loose remake of Dracula's Daughter and largely had nothing to do with the source material.
While it was well-received, it lacked the iconography and the subtle lesbian vampire subtext of the original, and this made it just another generic vampire movie. Another similar misfire was the 2017 remake of The Mummy, which failed to capture the era-based aspects that worked in the 1932 movie and the 1999 remake. A lot of what made these older movies work on a basic level was when they were made and set. S
Death, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.
Death Takes a Holiday is a 1934 film in which Death assumes human form to understand why people fear him. As he mingles with mortals, he becomes enamored with Grazia, the only woman unafraid of him, leading to a dilemma between pursuing personal happiness and fulfilling his cosmic duties.
imply plopping them into the same settings as any other movie nowadays takes away from their potential. This was clearly seen in Meet Joe Black, which is why it's overshadowed by the deathly shroud of its progenitor.
2025-01-19T13:52:49Z