In the Electric Mist
Apr 11, 2009 21:18:22 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2009 21:18:22 GMT
Here is an example of the neverending struggle between the concept of American movies and the rest of the world.
The French director Bertrand Tavernier filmed this movie in New Orleans in the spring of 2007. The star is Tommy Lee Jones, and it was of course filmed in English. In the American version of the film, Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) is sitting in a bar and is shown to be an alcoholic. The voiceover says "Sometimes I want a drink, but I resist the urge." (That's the translation from the French -- the exact terms might be different.) In the French version, the film begins with a long shot of the bayou and the voiceover begins "In the old day, stones were placed on the head of the dying."
Doesn't sound like the same movie, does it?
Well, the American version was edited by Roberti Silvi under the control of the producer, Michael Fitzgerald. The international version, released in every country except the United States is the version edited by the director.
Michael Fitzgerald explains that it was decided by his company Ithaca Pictures that the American public requires more action. Nevertheless, In the Electric Mist, even in the American version, was never released in the United States outside of the state of Louisiana. It went staight to DVD in the rest of the country on March 3rd, 2009.
It is finally coming out this week in France, and we will know what the public thinks of it.
In the meantime, the New York Times critic Dave Kehr, who saw the international version at the Berlin Film Festival, is horrified by the American version and cannot understand how such an internationally respected director can have his work butchered in such a way.
The French director Bertrand Tavernier filmed this movie in New Orleans in the spring of 2007. The star is Tommy Lee Jones, and it was of course filmed in English. In the American version of the film, Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) is sitting in a bar and is shown to be an alcoholic. The voiceover says "Sometimes I want a drink, but I resist the urge." (That's the translation from the French -- the exact terms might be different.) In the French version, the film begins with a long shot of the bayou and the voiceover begins "In the old day, stones were placed on the head of the dying."
Doesn't sound like the same movie, does it?
Well, the American version was edited by Roberti Silvi under the control of the producer, Michael Fitzgerald. The international version, released in every country except the United States is the version edited by the director.
Michael Fitzgerald explains that it was decided by his company Ithaca Pictures that the American public requires more action. Nevertheless, In the Electric Mist, even in the American version, was never released in the United States outside of the state of Louisiana. It went staight to DVD in the rest of the country on March 3rd, 2009.
It is finally coming out this week in France, and we will know what the public thinks of it.
In the meantime, the New York Times critic Dave Kehr, who saw the international version at the Berlin Film Festival, is horrified by the American version and cannot understand how such an internationally respected director can have his work butchered in such a way.
