Cinema Paradiso was better shorter, even if Giuseppe Tornatore sleeps better at night knowing his version was finally released last year. (I wrote about this when I saw the Director's Cut last May.)
According to David Edelstein's closing post to the Slate Movie Club (Just as they get crankin' they end the series), Harvey Weinstein--the same evil producer whose 45-minute cuts made Paradiso-- wanted to hack 20 minutes off the end of In the Bedroom. "If he were to take an ax to (the Dardenne brothers') The Sonówhich is like the last act of In the Bedroom minus the conclusive violenceóit would be about five minutes long.
After walking through the 13-minute cut of S(J03), my producer made the tough calls and gave me the spine I need to cut shots and scenes I love. For some tasty scenes, you'll just have to wait for the DVD.
