“Final Cut” is a frenetic dark comedy about a film crew becoming zombies while making a Z movie.
What seems like a clumsy French parody of the Japanese “cult film” “One Cut of the Death” by Shin’ichirô Ueda becomes a massive tribute to “Z movies” by Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist” and “The Search”).
 |
Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius. Photo by film critic José Alberto Hermosillo.
Copyright © Festival in LA, 2022 |
In “Final Cut,” Michel Hazanavicius pays tribute to those who tirelessly work in the film industry. Their skills and resourcefulness keep the essence of the filmmaking process alive. The team comprises technicians, producers, actors, and those who make movies even without dialogue. The relationship between the filmmakers and the film itself is a symbiotic yet challenging collaboration, even if the result is a complete disaster. According to the director, making a movie is heroic, even if it is a flop.
In 2020, during the first lockdown, Hazanavicius wanted to work on a comedy when the German producers, who had secured the rights to the Japanese “cult classic,” offered him the golden opportunity to remake that successful Asian box-office hit in France. The idea was brilliant and perfect for what he wanted to do during the pandemic. Hazanavicius saw some weird situations in the original that inspired him to juxtapose these images with his French reality. You can start with a script based on a book and, in this case, based on a movie. The original writing was challenging, and adapting to a European version was even more difficult.
In the movie, as in real life, problems arise, such as shooting an extended scene on a full memory card without realizing it. The original Japanese director said he understood his movie even more while watching the French version.
The first “one-shot” sequence is 33 minutes long. It took much preparation, from drawing the storyboard through many rehearsals with the actors, cinematographer, props, makeup, sound, and the rest of the crew, until everything came together. They used 54 cameras to capture every angle and every actor’s actions and reactions. They shot that specific sequence four times over four days, up to the final take, and it was still not that great, according to the director.
To differentiate between the movie and the making-of film, the director used various post-production techniques, such as color saturation, timing, and texture, so the audience could follow both storylines easily.
Michael Hazanavicius’ career ranges from experimental, quirky films to the most formal and academic productions. “Final Cut” is a very personal movie about making a movie. The question always arises: why did the director want to place himself in such a problematic situation by presenting an embarrassing project to the masses? He said that, in his defense, his films are always made in joyful sets with positive energy.
Zombie movies are fascinating and profitable. From big Hollywood productions like “World War Z” with Brad Pitt to more independent releases like “Zombieland” and Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die,” which also competed for the Palmer d’Or at Cannes in 2019. The 2018 French zombie thriller “The Night Eats the World/ La Nuit a dévoré le mondé” depicts a contemporary world where zombies invade Paris.
Other worldwide cult classics are George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” and the British production “28 Days Later” by Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting”). There is also the low-budget British high school zombie musical “Anna and the Apocalypse,” which I loved. Other Asian countries have made substantial contributions to the Zombie genre, from “Train to Busan” to the 2016 Zombie Pandemic South Korean animated film “Seoul Station.” One of my favorite Korean genre movies is the extraordinary production “Peninsula.” It is also considered the best Korean Zombie movie, “The Wailing.”
The Japanese productions have their fan base as well; “Versus,” “Miss Zombie,” “Helldriver,” and “One Cut of the Dead” are among the most popular. Highly recommended is the new apocalyptic Taiwanese zombie thriller “Sadness.”
In recent years, American television series about zombies have been widely successful. “The Last of Us,” with Pedro Pascal, just received 24 Emmy nominations. And “The Walking Dead” ran for eleven seasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment