May 09, 2009

Coen brothers to do Indians

Coen brothers to adapt 'True Grit'

New version will stay faithful to Portis' novelAs their next film, Joel and Ethan Coen will put their spin on "True Grit," the iconic Western that won John Wayne an Oscar.

Not a traditional remake, the Paramount film will be more faithful to the Charles Portis book than the 1969 pic, also distributed by Par.

Portis' novel is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father's killer in hostile Indian territory.

But while the original film was a showcase for Wayne, the Coens' version will tell the tale from the girl's p.o.v.And:The Western steps in front of another novel adaptation the Coens have with Rudin: "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," based on the Michael Chabon novel and set up at Columbia.Comment:  The remake of True Grit may or may not have any Indians in it. These notes on the novel suggest Indians are only a minor presence.

The movie version of The Yiddish Policemen's Union should show a significant amount of Tlingit culture. Whether it does or not remains to be seen.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:25 AM

    So, Yiddish Policeman's Union, eh? It was pretty good; I was surprised how many of my white liberal friends could understand Palestine after reading it. I don't know if that was Chabon's intention, but once you get rid of the fact that they're Arabs, most Americans understand.

    Yiddish Policeman's Union is one case where I wouldn't mind a non-Indian playing an Indian, just because if there's any nudity, we'll have to stick to the book's canon. (Or they could do the Y Tu Mamá También solution.)

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  2. Anonymous8:38 AM

    There is a wealth of Alaska Native and American Indian Actors that can bond with the Jewish actors on this :-D

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