Weinstein orders Promise cuts
Filed under: Foreign Language, The Weinstein Co., Weinstein Brothers, Cinematical Indie
First it broke
Chinese box office records; then, it was chopped up and
disseminated on television by pirates. Now, Chen Kaige's The Promise has been shortened and retitled by
its US distributor, The Weinstein Company. Here's how it breaks down: the 121 minute version,
still called The Promise, will serve as China's official
entry for the foreign-language Academy Award. Then there's Master of the Crimson Armor,
which opens in New York and Los Angeles this Friday for a one-week awards qualifying run; this essentially the same
film, except it's 24 minutes shorter – and, it's been nominated for a Golden Globe.
Harvey Weinstein, who earned himself the nickname Harvey Scissorhands back in the mid-90s for requiring his
directors to make harsh, unwanted cuts, decided that in its original incarnation, The Promise was too slow to
play in Peoria. "Harvey looked at the movie and conveyed certain concerns about how it would
play with Western audiences," said Ernest "Etchie" Stroh, Armor's sales rep. "I had almost identical feelings and took these to
Kaige."Interestingly, Stroh says the cuts were performed by Kaige himself, and under the opposite of duress. "There is an explicit clause that says Chen Kaige has final cut. This is definitely his movie. Weinstein Co. came with problems and offered solutions." And Chen backs up that version of events. "Western audiences may not have the same patience as Asians. What we have now looks more of an action movie, but I think the soul of the movie is still there. Harvey sent people to help with things like the subtitles, and I participated all the way."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-27-2005 @ 2:08PM
Peter Nellhaus said...
Thanks for the news. I'll be making a point of seeing "The Promise" in its original length on DVD. I'm sure that with the pirated versions now out that a legal version should be issued soon.
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12-30-2005 @ 3:12AM
Bradleigh Stockwell said...
Let me get this straight: in the same year era of two and a half hour Spielberg films, in the same year as a 3 hour and seven-minute "King Kong," Harvey Weinstein - the man behind "The Matrix, " "The Lord of the Rings," and "Kill Bill" (Parts I and II) and the almost three hour-long films "Cold Mountain" and "The Aviator" - is certain a Western audience can't handle Chen Kaige's film unless it's about half an hour shorter - and retitled? Yep. Sure. You bet. Anyway, I need to find an uncut DVD! No, Mr. Weinstein - thank YOU for the suggestion!
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