Funny (or charming) how different we are in this! I love hearing Heath talking in his native tongue, wearing sunglasses and all.
And I'd like commentaries, because I don't take the director's or the actors' statements about their views and interpretations as gospel or the ultimate final immutable say on anything. They can shed lots of new light on topics, they can provide additional insights, they can explain how they themselves thought at the time - obviously given how they've immersed themselves in the story, the characters, their motivation, the meaning - but at the end of the day the film means what it means to
me. Ennis and Jack and their story have a meaning that's uniquely
mine - just as there's one that's uniquely Ang Lee's. It's not processed till I've interpreted it myself, - I think a lot of what comes across in the film was not even in all respects intentional, or at least came together in ways that worked better or on more levels than the filmmakers could consciously have envisaged.
I think from the interviews I've seen that both Ang Lee and the actors are aware of this and entirely respectful of their audience's views and interpretations - never wanting to come across as if they have the one true answer to what anything means or what any character feels. They hardly could, after having striven so hard to make ambiguity the name of the BBM game. I remember one Jake interview during Oscar season where he seemed to have seen the film in somewhat of a new light himself after having read a review that got much attention on the discussion boards as well.
So I would love to listen to commentary tracks - in all honesty, Jake and Heath could read the New York telephone directory in their normal voices and dialects and I'd be majorly pleased. I like both their voices so much. (Why isn't there a blushing icon available when you need it?
) Just hearing them all reminiscing about the shooting etc. would be great.
The one thing I do not want to see, is an
extended version of the film. I'd love to see each and every outtake and scene cut for time, but
not inserted into the film. No way. The film is perfect as it is. Tinkering with it to insert hippies, or an additional Ennis-vision of Jack's death or any other scene we know was actually filmed might ruin it for me. The flow of the thinkg, the emotions, the characters...... one little scene might change too much. So while I'm ready to campaign for a DVD with each and every deleted scene as a bonus feature on the side, and I wouldn't say no to seeing every single first night and second night and reunion takes while I'm dreaming - I'm saying: Please Focus - don't give us no extended film! Don't change what's perfect already!
