October
9
Redacted at the NYFF: Mark Cuban Vs. Brian DePalma
When I first interviewed Brian DePalma on Redacted, his super-indie HD anti-Iraq flick produced by Mark Cuban's HDNet Films, I was surprised that DePalma was so angry at Cuban, who gave him carte-blanche and $5 million to make his film. DePalma said that Cuban had censored his film, "redacting" the photo montage at the film's end, and that his lawyers had made it impossible for him to make the movie he wanted to make.
I feel strongly that DePalma's movie in its fiction form is much watered down and less powerful --it is, on some level, finally, fake--than it would have been if he had followed his initial conception through and made a documentary instead.
When I saw DePalma in Toronto, it seemed like he was regretting the film's selection by four major fall film fests. He was feeling beat up, and it wasn't over yet. While the director was feted in Venice by the Europeans, he was grilled less mercifully in Telluride, Toronto and New York. I don't think DePalma had any idea what sort of maelstrom he was walking into.
Here's the New York Film Festival press conference:
Cuban has gotten his share of attacks as well. Here he defends himself on his blog.
UPDATE: Premiere's Glenn Kenny intelligently parses these issues.
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What's to comment on? Both these guys are scumbags and their so-called movie is nothing more than a hit piece on our military. All of this films evidence comes from the internet. What a bunch of losers.
Posted by: Mike | November 05, 2007 at 05:31 PM