Want to know why Bong Joon-Ho‘s awesome new film Snowpiercer is getting a delayed premiere in America?
Apparently, because Harvey Weinstein thinks the film is too smart for the Midwestern audience, so he’s cutting 20 minutes of character development and non-action stuff.
Go under the cut for direct quotes and outrage.
IF got the scoop from film critic and programmer Tony Rayns:
TWC people have told Bong that their aim is to make sure the film ‘will be understood by audiences in Iowa… and Oklahoma…
These cuts are aimed at removing character scenes and more cerebral elements of the film in favor of making it run like a generic blockbuster action film. According to sources the film itself is rather dark, and the removed scenes take away some of that gravitas. In total, Weinstein is cutting 20 minutes of screen time– which is a lot, considering that the entire film is 126 minutes long. That’s approximately 1/6 of the movie.
Not only is the gross stereotyping of midwesterners pretty darn disgusting, but that means that every English-speaking nation is getting the same treatment.
Once again, Rayns:
Leaving aside the issue of what Weinstein thinks of its audience, it seems to say the least anomalous that the rest of the English-speaking world has to be dragged down to the presumed level of American mid-west hicks.
Again, regression to stereotypes aside, he has a point about how films are adapted with an English-speaking audience in mind. If every movie brought over from another country is tailored for American audiences above all else, that shows the marketing priorities of big film corporations like the Weinstein Co.
Our advice for Bong Joon-Ho? Send them a bladed weapon.
(via SlashFilm)
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