Alternate Films

[bcholmes]

I lend a lot of DVDs. This week, a copy of Cinema Paradiso was returned to me after being on loan for about 11 months. I adore this movie, and every time I watch it, I find the last scene tremendously uplifting.

My friend, who'd had the DVD, told me something that I didn't know: that the European release included an extra 30 minutes, including a scene where a main character meets up with his long-lost love. On hearing this, I immediately recalled a moment in the credits that's always fascinated me. As the credits play, part of the screen shows shots from the film. Two of the last shots are of the main character in a store, and a woman who seems to be an older version of the long-lost love. I've always wondered about this set of shots, and wondered why they were there.

But: here's the thing. Today, I watched the film again, and that moment from the credits isn't there. I've seen the theatrical release twice, and before owning the DVD, I owned the video tape. And I'm sure that scene originally existed. It's just weird to me that they're re-edited the credits for the DVD release.

Sure enough, I go to IMDB, and it says:

The footage shown during the end credits has been slightly re-cut for the US DVD version. Most notably, the shot of the adult Elena has been removed.

And that reminds me of a time I caught a bit of The Silence of the Lambs on TV. Now, I adore The Silence of the Lambs. I saw it in the theatres 11 times (10 with my friend Diane), including one time on the IMAX screen at the Ontario Place Cinesphere. I know that film backwards and forwards, and can recite huge amounts of dialogue.

And this version on TV had a piece of film in it that I'd never seen before. After Starling leaves Lecter, just after their first meeting, she turns and walks down the hall. Step step step, then she jerks as something hits her. I'm like, "wait, wait! There's supposed to be a cut there. We're supposed to see multiple Miggs in his cot." I can grok why they'd cut his masterbatory scene for television. But in its place, there's a strip of film that I'd never seen before.

I know that they do different cuts of films. But I don't know that with the kind of immediacy that perhaps I should. I run into these moments, and the sort of abstract, theoretical knowledge becomes immediate, in the moment knowledge. And it's jarring. It's like we accidentally got the print from an alternate universe.

Comments

[lakme.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing that same scene on TV one night. My brother has the DVD, and I often think I should borrow it and check out deleted scenes. Now I will keep that in mind and do so.

Hi :)

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

This has been on my mind recently, what with the DVD release of Richard Donner's cut of Superman 2, which is apparently a nearly completely different movie in spite of the large swaths of reused scenes.