Re: [tlug] [not Linux related] Why Hollywood does break foreign films ?

[Bruno Raoult <braoult@example.com>]

On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 1:17 PM, Francois Cartegnie <fcartegnie@example.com> wrote:

Le 10/08/2013 19:01, Bruno Raoult a écrit :

> Hi all,
>
> By (mal)chance, I got versions of some films that I loved, in French
> Version.
> Nikita (completely rewritten in USA), "Le Grand Bleu" (different music and
> meaningless happy ending),

Counterexample from the same director: Leon / The professional.
- The French, and prior release, is crippled and story made inconsistent
- The US Release has full story.

I am not sure to understand what you are speaking about:

AFAIK, the US release is the same as french "version intégrale", released in 96, 2 years after the original one that Besson calls also "Director's cut".
And, if I understand, Besson wanted to release the long version initially, but, mainly - but not only - after tests with Los Angeles public, he decided to release a 26 min shorter version.

This means (if correct) that the US release does not exist per se. And that US public reaction to test projections is one of the cause of Besson's cut. The "original one" is therefore the long one.

Sources: Wikipedia (French and English), and this sentence from http://www.lesinrocks.com/cinema/films-a-l-affiche/leon-version-integrale/:

La version originale de Léon, la pure, pour employer un adjectif qu’il affectionne, comportait des scènes qui ont, paraît-il, horrifié le public des projections-tests organisées en été 94 par Columbia, le distributeur américain. Telle quelle, cette première version n’aurait été distribuée que dans 100 salles sur le territoire américain au lieu de 1 000.

Translation (please correct if some wording seems incorrect):

The original, the "pure one" to use a word he [Besson] likes had some scenes which did "horrify" the public when test projections were made by Columbia, the US distributor of the film - in summer 94. The original ("pure") version, would have been shown in only 100 cinemas in US instead of 1,000.

The same article wonders why the short version was also released in France, as public is different and would not have complained about these scenes (which are mostly about the type of relationship between Mathilda and Leon).

But you may have different sources.

br.


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