This week’s new movie “Babylon A.D.” isn’t being screened for critics. And the director is eager to tell us why.
Mathieu Kassovitz, the French director who gave us the provocative feature “La Haine” (1995), tells the AMC movie blog that little in the film is what he intended. (hat tip: Rich’s Movie News)
“I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn’t respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience.”
So, what do you really think, Mathieu?
It’s clear Kassovitz isn’t a part of the Hollywood system. It’s rare for directors, actors, key grips, to talk about their projects with such candor. And it looks like he may stay out of Hollywood’s good graces after these comments. But good for him. The movie’s got his name on it, and if the powers that be handcuffed his best intentions people should hear about it.
“Babylon A.D.” stars Vin Diesel as a futuristic mercenary hired to smuggle two people from Eastern Europe to New York City. The film opens Friday, August 29.
(Photo: Vin Diesel’s latest action picture, “Babylon A.D.,” isn’t what it should have been, according to the film’s director)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Daniel 08.27.08 at 7:04 pm
No one held a gun to his head and told him to make a bad movie. If the product sucks then it is no one’s fault but his. He always had the option to say No to changes and let them fire him or simply walk away if change was forced on him. It’s his movie. If it’s lousy, it’s his fault.
cftoto 08.27.08 at 7:18 pm
I understand your point, but I suspect it’s more complicated than that. I bet he had hope that only a scene or two would be tinkered with, but as time marched on the ’suits’ kept hitting him with more and more revisions. And being fired from a film project could stain his reputation, labeling him as difficult.
Of course, now he’ll be labeled that anyway since he went public with his gripes!
Thanks for your two cents, Daniel!
chase 08.27.08 at 8:06 pm
gotta say, the trailer didn’t impress me …
But … what about a couple of films that sort of interested me, but never seemed to come this way, Hottieboombalottie (okay, you’re sick of me asking about that one, but I want to see it! any whiff of a dvd release?) …. and American Teen, which was billed as a “Modern day breakfast club” but seemed to go nowhere.
I mean, they’ve remade the breakfast club into a JC Penney ad, so it’s got to be hot right now.
…. also, isn’t there a Cohen Bros. movie coming out next week or so?
cftoto 08.27.08 at 8:10 pm
Chase,
American Teen came … and didn’t make much noise. Some claimed it was a tad staged …
I promise I’ll post info on Hottieboombalottie asap when I get it
And “Burn After Reading” comes out Sept. 12, I believe.