Abre Los Ojos vs. Vanilla Sky

I brought and then watched both of these movies back-to-back. The first was done by a Chili-born Spanish director; the second the American remake. This is my argument on which is better. If you seen neither film, let me warn you some spoilers follows. If you want to know which I think is best over all, skip to the last paragraph.

Before I being, let me just state a few things to help out on any confusion, on an already confusing movie. There is four major characters. The main one is César/David, his initial girlfriend Nuria/Julie, his best friend Pelayo/Brian, and his girlfriend who César/David quickly developed a crush on, Sofia, played by Penélope Cruz in both films. It also helps to divide the film into four acts. The first one I like to call, this isn't in either film, "The Love Triangle", and it includes everything up to the crash. It shows how Nuria/Julie relationship ended - literally - with César/David when he got too interested in Pelayo/Brian's new girlfriend. The second "Disfigured", as César/David deals with his life after the wreak. The third act, "Surreal", starts when he wakes up with a hangover on the street, Sofia finding him there. The murder scene is the ending of that act and the beginning of the finale, which I just like to call "LE". Since Vanilla Sky (VS) is the remake, I will use it and compare it to Abre Los Ojos (ALO).

First of all, VS is the same film as ALO. No major plot changes, like you sometimes get. You can see the same scenes in both films, with one exception I noted. There was minor differences throughout, which I wll note below. VS is 18 minutes longer, mostly because it added a few things.

Take the first act. Julie had more on screen time than Nuria, though not too much. We also see a lot more of David's business as the leader of a magazine publishing company and the '7 dwarves' he has to work with, unlike César's chain or restaurants. Pointing out David's playboy lifestyle as a weakness is hinted at through frequent use of the word marriage and one common line throughout the film. To quote Brian (ugh, rarely do I see my name used in a movie... not use to it!) in the birthday party, "Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour." Finally the drive just before the crash was longer, more exciting, and meaningful. I like those elements. What I didn't like is Sofia seeming to be more infatuated with David unlike ALO. In ALO she says through her actions that he won't mind being friends with César since they share a friend in common, but she is Pelayo's. Since this deals with one of the main themes of this movie, I have to go with ALO on this act by a little. Oh, and Sofia has a dog instead of a cat. Noticed that in both films this is the only scene you see her pet.

In act 2, VS has David's arm injured in addition to is face disfigurement. I like the scene with the surgeons more. "Because for a minute there, I thought we were talking about A F***ING MASK! .... This completely takes care of Halloween. But what about the other 364 days of the year?" Sofia isn't a mime but a dancer. At first this didn't seem to matter till I noticed one scene they just took out. Here is the one scene that don't have a scene in VS. In ALO, César watched her mime until it started to rain, washing her makeup off. She started to put things away and César asks why she won't talk or look at him, placing the blame on the fact he is now disfigured. The scene doesn't end well for either of them. What VS did instead is David following Sofia dressed up so that she can't tell that is him, and just watching her from a distance. In a later scene - they are not connected - he reintroduce himself and ends okay for them both. I prefer the ALO version a lot more, and my vote goes for ALO for this act. Well, there is one other good line for VS, at the end of the bar scenes. In ALO, Pelayo just shows up saying he was looking for him (César) and they leave. VS has Sofia saying, "I'll tell you in another life, when we are both cats.", which amuses David.

"Surreal" is when the movie gets really confusing. People begin to quote David and others, like in ALO. VS adds a mole to Sofia's breast which plays a role in the murder scene. Little, but a nice touch. Also I seem to like Najwa Nimri acting more than Cameron Diaz for Nuria/Julie. Diaz acting was a little too much while Nimri seem more level. When she was reintroduced in this act, Julie was not hit and, though initially disturbed by David's actions, laughed at the end of the scene. Later, when David's best ally in his company (a character who didn't exist in ALO) came to get him out, shown Julie's face bloodied. Also on Nuria/Julie, I like how ALO was more 'sneaky'. Think this is Cameron trying to play mind games with us, like the movie does with David. The French TV announcer of LE was replaced by a British actor who played an official from tech support. The dream sequence in LE's headquarters are much better in ALO since the visuals are fuzzed out like they really are a dream or a memory.

As for the murder scene, again I like Nimri acting compared to Diaz when Nuria/Julie attacked him (what happened to the dog in VS?!?) and how Amenábar is more sneaky with Nuria/Julie reintroduced after a brief period of her back to being Sofia again. As for the murder itself, for whatever reason, I like VS better. More dynamic, played out, and maybe because he covers up Diaz over-smiling face. And was that 'Western Union' being played?!? No one gets murdered when David goes to LE's headquarters. Instead of going to the bathroom saying "This is a nightmare", he notices the one doing the sales pitch quoting him, so he says the exact thing she is saying and pull off his mask there. He then runs out and started screaming for tech support. Very funny. I actually like this act more in VS than in ALO, how it wraps up all the loose ends. The only thing I don't like is that it tells what happened after David is put into ice. This was never revealed in ALO, and it hinted Sofia was the right person for David.

This is perhaps the biggest difference between the two films. In my opinion, ALO's Sofia was meant for Pelayo. The reverse for VS, which shows in the before mentioned scene Brian just giving Sofia a wave during David's memorial service, and she just leaves.

So what is my final verdict? I tend to lean to ALO. Besides for the list of specific reasons I mentioned, Amenábar directing (again, how surprises sneak up on you) and the script did a better job in setting up the puzzle for the viewers to solve while laying down enough clues to do so. Like the LE TV person versus a dog in VS, and the fuzzled memory sequence showing César's original trip there. ALO is also more like what a psychological horror movie should be. It was darker and only became an action film when César lost it in the end. Overall I do like both films, I just prefer ALO by a slim margin.