Writer and Director: Michel Hazanavicius from the original screenplay by Shin’ichirô Ueda and Ryoichi Wada
France gave the world Day for Night generally regarded as one of the finest tributes to the art of filmmaking. French film Final Cut, written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, is a similar love letter to the people who make movies but takes a markedly different approach to paying tribute.
The first thirty minutes or so of Final Cut are almost incomprehensible. The audience is dropped into the closing moments of a zombie movie, but something is clearly off. Everyone is over-acting and improvising; actors pause in the middle of a tense scene to discuss their hobbies, or, as the actor misspeaks, their ‘hubbies’. George A. Romero’s zombie classic Day of the Dead is often taken as a satire on mindless consumerism, so a character takes the time to quiz a zombie about his motivation and place in society. Besides, although the characters are not Asian all have Japanese names. It is hilariously over the top but hard to follow.
Fortunately, as the credits roll on the movie events flash back a couple of months to reveal how the characters got in such a ridiculous position. Rémi (Romain Duris who we have already seen as ‘Higurashi‘ the barking mad film director in the opening scenes) is a hack film director whose modest aspiration is to provide shows that are ‘fast, cheap and decent’. He is approached to direct a remake of a Japanese horror movie (an in-joke of course as Final Cut is a remake of Japanese zombie flick One Cut of the Dead by Shin’ichirô Ueda and Ryoichi Wada). It is a big break for him but there are conditions – the producer Madame Matsuda (another in-joke Yoshiko Takehara played a producer in the original) insists the movie be made live, filmed in a single shot and be an exact duplicate of the original, including the Japanese character names and reference points.
As the rehearsal process begins hints of likely problems emerge – one actor has a drink problem, another is fully committed to the ‘method’ approach. Nothing, however, can prepare the producers for the lead actors being injured on the first day of filming which compels Rémi to take on acting as well as directing responsibilities and to persuade his actor wife Nadia (Bérénice Bejo ) to come out of retirement and take part. As Nadia tends to get too involved with her roles and has injured co-stars in the past this may not be the best idea.
Michel Hazanavicius takes inspiration not from François Truffaut or even the original movie but rather Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off. Ultimately Final Cut is a not a tribute to movies but to the willingness of those involved to push themselves to the limit to ensure films are a success. Romain Duris leads the way as someone discovering a love of a craft which he has previously taken lightly. Duris grabs every opportunity to push the comedy along – settling scores with cast members and at one point offering motivation with the comment ‘’ There are no small roles, only small actors’’. There is a charming low-key performance from Simone Hazanavicius as Romy, Duris’s daughter who helps hold things together.
The glorious chaos of filmmaking is captured with the desperate improvisation of the film crew. A camera operator suddenly finds a wheelchair is made available to help with a tracking shot. On-site criticism of the script is provided with a dramatic final speech being terminated with an axe and the terse comment ‘’It’s too long’’. The closing sequence of the entire crew working together to achieve the essential final shot is oddly moving.
Audiences prepared to sit though the deliberately shambolic opening of Final Cut will find the film an unexpected delight.
Signature Entertainment presents Final Cut on Digital Platforms 7th November.
