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This article was originally published on September 27, 2024.
We are recirculating it now thatThe Fallis back in theaters.
(He now speaks it fluidly and enthusiastically.)
Just not always accurately.
I used to tell them aboutGet Smart.
And they were thinking, That was supposed to be a comedy, you idiot.
In this gorgeously colored, crisply rendered version,The Fallpractically vibrates off the screen.
(MUBI confirms thata physical release of the filmis in the works for 2025.
Talk to me about the timeline for this 4K restoration project.
Anybody who would interview me aboutDear Jassi, they would be like, Why cant we seeThe Fall?
And I would go, Yeah.
Why cant I answer that?
I realized that there was this whole critical mass that had evolved around it, and everybody wanted it.
A film that I really loved,Jonathan GlazersBirth, was withmy filmat 50 percent on the Tomatometer.
The third festival we were in, in Saudi Arabia, I met Efe Cakarel from MUBI.
He literally said, I love the film.
I said, Its yours.
You just tell me what it will take to get eyeballs on it.
Then the problem was that the 4K that I knew was around could not be found.
When we started looking for it, there was just a whole bunch of corrupted materials.
So we did another version.
There was a shot I remember of Catinca that was out of focus.
I had to kill myself trying not to use it, but I did use it.
Shes not even moving.
Shes lying in the bed, and her eyes are soft.
Its the last thing I want to ever notice.
Nobody even blinks looking at that shot.
They dont even see it.
And all I can think is,Its big and massive and its soft.
And I just get angry.
Before the MUBI deal, did you explore streaming it on another service?Im not particularly Internet savvy.
Like I say, if it wasnt for porn and chess, I would have never discovered the Internet.
I only watch stuff on Apple TV.
I was just telling my lawyer, I want people to be able to buy it if they want.
She said, Oh, you want streaming?
And I was just like, Whatever that is, do it.
She had said, Ill approach Criterion.
I wouldnt say they said no.
They just never, never, never responded from any channel that I went through.
Are you planning another physical release?We are finishing that.
That was the reason I went for this.
We are producing it on Blu-ray.
Its got the kind of following that likes having it around.
There are some changes in this version, including two restored deleted scenes.
There is one scene that I should have never touched.
Ive been an atheist since I was in my preteens.
Roy starts to introduce the priest as a bad guy, and Alexandria goes, Whoa!
But the priest is a good guy!
And he goes, Uh … yeah.
And the line of the priest shouting and saying, Darwin!
because thats his arch-enemy, evolution.
Ive gone bankrupt almost twice.
Lets take it out.
That was it for me.
The other scene I could live without showed the landscape in the Himalayas.
I took the biggest crane we could get up there, and did this crane move.
I took it out because needed to [snaps fingers to as if to say hurry up].
Nico Soultanakis and I had written a shooting script.
Thats all I wanted to do.
But Dan Gilroy came in and he made a really good point.
He said, Theres a way you’re free to make this more commercial.
And now, whenever these people talk, your attention is there.
And Dans thing was, Roys got an agenda.
Hes trying to commit suicide.
Introduce that earlier, and therell be a lot more forgiven.
And I thought about it, and I said, No.
First, I want it to be about a meander.
Thats what people complain about, that the fucking thing goes all over the place.
I say, Yes.
Have you tried talking to a five-year-old?
And youneedsomething from the five-year-old?
Its like pulling hens teeth.
So for me, I said, No.
He said, That alls fair, and then Dan left.
But it was a wonderful point that he made.
I wanted to confirm you understand this is not the story that the guy told.
Its the childs perspective, remembering it later on in life.
I thought about introducing an old person, and then you realize that theyre remembering their story.
I thought,People can see that its a childs perspective.
Because English is not really my first language.
I was always trying to say, this is somebody remembering the story from back then.
Its a little girl.
This is a compromise that hopefully helps.
Categorically, no matter how much money they offer me, nobody is allowed to dub this film.
The dialogue is how it is.
If youre gonna dub it, I cant trust that.
I do keep in touch with Lee every now and then, because hes in upstate New York.
Whenever Im going down there, I have a go at drive by and see him.
Its not as often as I would like, but we do meet up.
Catinca, yes, because we almost lost touch and then we got in touch again.
Also Julian Bleach, the Mystic.
Most of the other actors, not really.
I will make a run at reach out to them.
Im sure theyll find it, because Im sure theyve been like, I acted in this film.
Where can we see it?
Or made it out alive.
As far as shes concerned he made it out and did those stunts forever.
I would just say, if youre an optimist, the guy made it out alive.
But if youre anywhere near a pessimist, youll go the other extreme.
Buster Keaton did all his stunts, so thats obviously not Roy in 90 percent of those shots.
Whos to say none of those are him?
Whos to say after she left, he probably killed himself?
So for me, that was kind of the answer: Whatever you want it to be.
Dont freeze it because I dont know if its Roy.
Will you tell me if he filmed anything for that sequence?Im not gonna tell you.
Now when I watch it, I say I ran it four times too many.
I should not have said freeze the frame.
Look at it, and whatever mood youre in, thats what happened.
Youve talked aboutThe Fallbeing a movie you felt like you could only make at that time in your life.
The practical issues that come up are different.
And that kind of financial situation would never happen again.
I had so much money from making 20 years of award-winning commercials.
David Fincher, who co-produced, tried his best to get me to talk to executives.
And I realized nobody could finance this film.
It doesnt have a script, its got an essence box.
But thats not how you sell a film.
Theyd say, Where do you shoot?
Id say, I dont know.
Maybe starting with 10 countries, might become more.
Fincher said, Everybody who makes money through advertising always talks about this personal film theyll never make.
You are the guy who made it.
I said, I am the idiot that made it.
And it happened at the right time.
My Italian girlfriend dumped me.
I told my brother, Sell everything.
I want to have nothing.
Ill never be in that position again, because now I have a son.
You gotta give him something to carry on and carry on.
But back then, it was like, Fuck it, burn the bridges behind me.
Lets go make this.
And I thought, Yes, the guy who stole his girl.
I told Sean Gilder, If youre coming in, just know that youre not the big part anymore.
All those things changed as we went along.
Now, I might do them differently.
It needs no fantasy.
Its just two people in a bed, and the manipulation going on.
I am 100 percent sure Im right.
And my answer was, What else is money for?
I burned it all.
They call it indulgent.
But when it works for them, then they call it auteur.
I just go,Well, it was indulgent.
But I needed to get this devil off my back.
You recently shared that a 4K of your first filmThe Cellis coming.
What is the status of that?Its done.
Its actually going to be shown for the first time atBeyond Fest in LA on October 3.
Last year, he was telling me, Look at this.
They had an incredible conversation.
They might even be putting out some behind-the-scenes thing.
It should be coming out soon.
My original commentary interview was horrendously hilarious.
When we did that film, there was a little bit of a compromise, which was understandable.
And then when they changed one shot on the trailer, I said, Im done.
I was in India when Vincent DOnofrio, who was the original bad boy, called me.
He said, Were doing the junket here in San Pedro.
Everybody wants to know and meet the director.
How come youre not here?
And I said, They changed a shot on the trailer without telling me.
And he went, Oh, you have so much to learn.
And I was like, Ooh.
I guess that was the wrong thing.
He was supposed to be the difficult one.
Whenhesaid that, I said, I must have come off really bad.
