Free Bong!
Monday, October 7, 2013 at 4:45PM 
JA from MNPP here. I assume you guys been following the burgeoning brouhaha surrounding the new movie Snowpiercer from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho? The film is Bong's first English-language feature (you should definitely seek out some of his previous work like Mother or Memories of Murder, if you are unfamiliar) and stars Chris Evans, Jamie Bell and Tilda Swinton amongst others, and is set in a post-apocalyptic future on board a train barreling through the wintry wilderness. The film's gotten some seriously positive reviews at some film festivals (and if any of you have actually seen the movie out there, please do share) over the past few months...
... which apparently means little to The Weinstein Company, who snapped up the distribution rights to the movie for half of the globe only to immediately decide that twenty minutes or so needed to be lopped off of it. There's been some back and forth about it in the press, and Bong's tried to remain diplomatic about it. Until now, that is - Variety's reporting that he's furious, and telling audiences now that the cut that most of the world will end up seeing will not be his cut.
I'll point out that it's impossible for me to hide my tone here - I've spent years watching Harvey Weinstein snap up horror movies with magnificent festival buzz only to hide them away and botch their release, so I've had some time to build up these resentments. They are deep and I can't be counted upon for a level head here. I'm just glad we live in a connected world of technological wonder where I'll be able to see Bong's film the way it was intended as soon as it's released in South Korea, and therefore bypass putting a penny into the Weinstein's pockets. That said, I recognize I haven't seen the film - maybe Harvey knows best? What do you guys think about this?
Reader Comments (6)
Harvey knows best?? I hope that's just you playing devil's advocate. Bong Joon-ho is a brilliant auteur and this is a complete and total slap to the face. Like you, I'll be seeking out the definitive version and won't be wasting my money on a bastardized version of the movie.
this makes me so sad. Now I am of the opinion that most respected auteurs get a little indulgent in their running times and could use less "yes people" around them but harvey takes it to the other extreme. Just let it be. Auteur fans tend to want the auteur's vision and that's the type of audiences this type of film gets anyway
Even having two masterpieces (Memories and The Host) doesn't earn you Harvey's trust that your work will likely be a success. This is depressing.
Pretty sure these reediting quests are just ego trips on Harvey's part. He wants his fingerprints on the films he releases, and makes sure people know he's worked on them, so that if they hit big, he can take the credit. It's all about advancing the myth of Harvey. And, listen, sometimes the guy's not wrong. But lately? If his insultingly dumb cut of The Grandmaster is any indication of what he's going to do to Snowpiercer we should all just start hitting YesAsia.com to see when the international Blu ray is available.
That's really sad, even because Bong's films normally are very lucky at asian BO, including SNOWPIERCER
Just boycott any future film production with Harvey Weinstein's name attached to it. That will get our message across the globe.