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James Schamus today spoke about the upcoming DELUXE DVD
Kd5000:
release of BBM. The interview was done by AFTERELTON in observation of the film's one year anniversary. Schamus says there will be no deleted scenes as Ang wanted them deleted in the first place. Why put them back in. DUH!!! We should still have the option of seeing these deleted scenes and decide for ourselves. Some of us want every morsel of BBM that is out there.
Here's the link if you want to proceed go directly to the interview.
http://www.afterelton.com/people/2006/12/schamus.html. It's got a few photos.
I cut and pasted the FIRST page of the article. It's 3 pages so I don't wanta overun the "box." The interview done today is worth the full read.
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
One year ago this month, Brokeback Mountain opened in New York City before gradually opening across the country. After breaking box office records in New York, Brokeback went on to gross $83 million domestically (more than double that worldwide) and won more Best Picture and Director awards in America than any other film in history. Indeed, Brokeback Mountain is arguably the most honored film of all time. To celebrate the anniversary of Brokeback Mountain's release, we recently spoke with Brokeback's executive producer and the CEO of Focus Features, James Schamus.
AfterElton.com: What can you tell me about the director's cut of Brokeback Mountain?
James Schamus: It's not even really a director's cut. … The changes really are very minuscule. They're going to package in some … featurettes about the music, the reception of the film. What you saw [in the theaters] was the director's cut. It's what Ang wanted.
AE: That's good to hear.
JS: Yeah. They wanted to put in some deleted scenes. There was a discussion about deleted scenes, but quite frankly, as Ang said, “The reason I deleted them was because I wanted to delete them. So why would I put them in the DVD?” [Laughs.] That's a pretty good point there, Ang!
AE: There was probably a certain faction of the audience hoping for an alternative ending.
JS: Well, yes. You know my joke is that in the sequel, Heath will go to New York and become one of the Village People. [ Laughs.] That's a whole other different movie.
AE: It's just so sad that so many straight men wouldn't see the movie. I hadn't thought about this when I saw Brokeback, but what would director John Ford have said about Brokeback Mountain?
JS: Ang did not want to put the film in the western category. He knew the film was about the West, and he knew if he overstudied westerns while he was preparing it, he would be stultified a bit and getting into a genre he wasn't interested in, because [Brokeback Mountain] is not a “western” per se. But it is about people of the West and men of the West.
So he is very aware of westerns, and we watched a lot together. And what he wanted was a movie that was, I think, stylistically a little different. You know, there are a lot of main wide shots, and [in] Brokeback he doesn't punch in a lot. When he does, it's usually very specific, and it's a very simple course of filmmaking.
AE: It also seems very much a movie about class.
JS: Thank you! No one talked about that. A few people did. But in terms of general culture, I think because of the gay love story there was really very little discourse saying “ Jeez, you actually don't see a lot of movies about working-class people, historically.”
AE: Absolutely.
JS: It's almost like a law saying you're not allowed to do it. So thank you for saying that, because we always knew why it wasn't being discussed. … There is a whole other part of this [film] that gets teased out that has to do with the relation of class.
AE: Well, even through the prism of gay issues, it seems like Jake, since he has more money, is able to think outside the box about having a different kind of life, whereas —
JS: This is exactly right.
AE: Heath is in such a small world that he can't really see outside it. Unless you have a certain amount of economic freedom, you can't really think of those things. If you're willing to comment at this point, do you have a sense of how Brokeback is going to fit in cinematic history?
JS: I honestly — I make 'em, you tell me …
David:
That was a pretty sucky interview. >:(
No deleted scenes, Schamus agrees, then so does the interviewer?
Here is a good reason to have them: THE BUYING PUBLIC WANTS THEM!~
I hope Focus features takes a huge loss on the production of this new "Collectors edition" when nobody buys it.
And Schamus says his idea of an alternate ending is Ennis joining the Village People?
Geez, I thought this guy was nice, but now I think he is just an idiot. Another straight man cashing in on the financial popularity of BBM. A friend of the gay community? I THINK NOT.
moremojo:
The deleted scenes were almost certainly deleted for good reason. The hippie scene sounds like an immense embarrassment, BUT...it was part of the historical process in which the film became a reality, AND it allows a further glimpse of Ennis and Jack (and Heath and Jake displaying their art). These are all solid reasons to include them on a DVD, especially a DVD being marketed as a deluxe edition.
I liked the invocation of class in the interview; I agree that this is an element of the story's theme that tends to be underdiscussed.
I did not like the lazy habit of referring to Jack and Ennis by the names of the actors portraying them...it is very apparent that Heath is not Ennis.
Thanks, Kd5000, for posting this. It was an interesting read, and will play a valuable role in individual readers' decisions regarding their potential investment in the upcoming "deluxe" DVD.
Ellemeno:
I had mixed feelings while reading this interview. Thanks for posting it, KD5000. This is the part that gives me hope:
Suddenly there was that kind of tipping moment where it was not cool to tell a homophobic Brokeback joke. Suddenly you had to tell nice jokes or do nice parodies or celebrate [the movie] because there was no one to argue with. I really think there is a very powerful aspect to the things you don't notice. You don't notice when the guy at the water cooler pauses and thinks, “I better not tell this joke because I realize that a lot of people have seen this movie and seem to like it, and maybe it's not safe for me to push it here.”
nakymaton:
--- Quote from: DavidinHartford on December 15, 2006, 10:21:59 pm ---
And Schamus says his idea of an alternate ending is Ennis joining the Village People?
--- End quote ---
He's laughing at the very idea of sequels and alternate endings.
I thought it was pretty funny, but then, I think the urge for sequels and alternate endings needs to be mocked a bit.
It's interesting that they don't seem to be considering the possibility of including deleted scenes as out-takes. I can't see putting, say, the hippy scene back into the movie, but I wouldn't mind seeing it on its own.
And nobody mentioned the lack of commentary tracks.
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