would you mind to elaborate this, Mick? Where exactly do you see the film is "catering for Western audiences"? [/b][/quote]Sure, Lav. I'd seen the opening ten minutes of this film before, at a cinema class where we'd just watched the original (I've seen the original many times, and it's one of the my favourite films of its year). How is it catering for Western audiences (and by that, I mean mainstream audiences used to watching Hollywood films)? Well, it simply spells everything out for them. At one point, during an autopsy, the coroner is reporting and says a technical medical term. Eckhart then says to Dormer (Pacino) what it means. Only, it wasn't telling his partner, it was telling us, as viewers. That's fine, but it can also be insulting. I didn't know what the technical term meant, but frankly, I didn't have to. A girl's been murdered and that's that. Scandinavian Cinema (encompassing Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland) is much more subtle, down-to-earth, and, if I may throw in an adjective I don't really like to use if I can avoid it, "realistic". In short, the original presents its audience with its own world, while the remake must adhere to the world of Hollywood.

I think it can be summed up by the name of the setting, to make it obvious enough: "Welcome to Nightmute."

I'll definitely go back to it, though. I was reading an IMDb review the other day which complained about Robin Williams being a bad castign choice, and that whenever he was on screen the film became talkative (as if humans aren't allowed to talk, and as if talking is not allowed); I thought Williams' turn was fantastic, both contrasting and complimenting Pacino's (for once) sustained performance (I think Al only allowed himself one verbal outburst here, which is good going).

Hope this has elaborated.
Thanks,
Mick