Post by lordofdance on Aug 5, 2007 8:45:15 GMT -5
For anyone who cares about movies enough to take the time to construct a list of favorites, it seems appropriate that he/she see each of those beloved movies on the big screen at least once. Now, unless all one’s favorite motion pictures were just released, it may be difficult to catch a screening, particularly if the movies in question are old or obscure. In the case of my Top 20, I’ve only seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pink Flamingos, Showgirls, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction in a real theatre. That is, until last night, when I went to see Suspiria at the local art house during a midnight showing.
I found out about the big event by accident a few weeks ago when I went to see Waitress (I was bored and nothing else was available) early one afternoon. There was a flyer near the entrance listing off the upcoming midnight movies and I noticed that Suspiria was right after Army of Darkness. Of all my Top 20 favorites, Suspiria has always been like the Holy Grail of movies I wanted to see at an honest to goodness picture show, so I was naturally excited. Finally I had the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds in all their natural glory, as well as witness how an audience reacted to a movie I hold so dear. I was particularly excited about the latter, that is, seeing how a mixed group of people, presumably who loved Suspiria as well, would respond to all the scenes that I’ve gotten so much joy from all these years. Would they laugh when I laughed? Would they have insightful or witty comments? Would we all share a feeling of collective awe?
Yeah…
The crowd was entirely young, made up of mostly average-looking types. I saw a few tattoos and horror movie T-shirts, but most of them were pretty boring in their appearance. A trailer for some Julie Delpy movie came on, which didn’t really fit the mood, but I paid enough attention to notice how old she was starting to look. I think I even considered seeing it when it came out even though it seemed stupid. Anyway, the main attraction followed immediately after and I noticed right away that this was an old and/or heavily used print because it resembled the fake worn look of Grindhouse. Except that the scratches and crackling were very real. At first, I was a bit disappointed, being used to the flawless DVD version I own, but then I realized that it made me feel like I was transported back in time to some dumpy theatre. It seemed authentic, I guess. The sound quality though, was truly troublesome. I expected the music of Goblin to assault my ears with all the fury of a thunderstorm, but it was really weak. Not as bad as some of the dialogue later on, which was barely audible, but the Goblin score is a vital part of the movie. I wanted to be blown away. That was hardly the worst issue, however. I managed to accept the shitty sound quality and focused more on the audience reaction during the legendary opening scenes of murder and mayhem. There was much laughter and exclamations of “Ooooh!” when the poor girl’s face was smashed up against the window by the large hairy arm, and as she was stabbed repeatedly and finally hung. I expected a vocal reaction, and, happily there was one. It felt good to see the bloodshed with an enthusiastic group. But then it happened…
“This is version is censored!” I heard a voice from the front row protest. It took a moment for it to register in my mind, but I realized he was right. The part after the hanging where the camera lingers on the dead woman below (and the hunk of glass sliced through her head) was indeed missing. There was some heavy print damage at that moment, and I thought that maybe that was the problem, but as the movie went on the censorship only became more egregious. After the guy pointed out the missing gore, another guy mockingly replied “Thanks, Professor.” The “Professor” left in disgust soon after. I thought to myself, “Should I leave as well as a gesture of solidarity?” That guy was taking a stand against censorship, after all, and this was Suspiria that was being butchered. I knew that a shorter version existed, but I had never seen it and never expected that it would be shown at the theatre. But here it was. I decided to stay, though, naively hoping that the movie wasn’t going to be hacked up too much worse. For a while, everything did seem all right. The audience laughed a lot, though nobody made any comments like one would hear at Rocky Horror or anything. It was still pleasing to see others enjoying the movie. But then came the absolutely unforgivable offense: The entire part where the blind piano player gets fired was removed. Yes, the whole thing. I was sure the audience would laugh when he called that Nazi prison guard witch “You bitch!” and was looking forward too it, but no… Gone. All gone. The only thing that was shown was his murder, but all the gore was removed! No dog ripping out his throat. Nothing! I was ripping pissed and bit saddened. Nobody appeared to be anywhere near as troubled as I was, though.
Oh yeah, and the throat slashing of Susie’s friend was cut out, too.
All in all, we’re talking about ten minutes of footage chopped right out. It was like cutting off the top part of the Mona Lisa’s head. You could do without the top part of her head, but the painting would clearly be missing something.
So, I walked out of the theatre in a bit of a daze reflecting on how bittersweet the experience was. I heard a few people discussing the missing parts, but none of them were angry like the “Professor.” I wonder if he demanded his money back or anything, or at least informed the staff of his disappointment. Maybe he’ll write an angry letter.
I just feel kind of blah.
I found out about the big event by accident a few weeks ago when I went to see Waitress (I was bored and nothing else was available) early one afternoon. There was a flyer near the entrance listing off the upcoming midnight movies and I noticed that Suspiria was right after Army of Darkness. Of all my Top 20 favorites, Suspiria has always been like the Holy Grail of movies I wanted to see at an honest to goodness picture show, so I was naturally excited. Finally I had the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds in all their natural glory, as well as witness how an audience reacted to a movie I hold so dear. I was particularly excited about the latter, that is, seeing how a mixed group of people, presumably who loved Suspiria as well, would respond to all the scenes that I’ve gotten so much joy from all these years. Would they laugh when I laughed? Would they have insightful or witty comments? Would we all share a feeling of collective awe?
Yeah…
The crowd was entirely young, made up of mostly average-looking types. I saw a few tattoos and horror movie T-shirts, but most of them were pretty boring in their appearance. A trailer for some Julie Delpy movie came on, which didn’t really fit the mood, but I paid enough attention to notice how old she was starting to look. I think I even considered seeing it when it came out even though it seemed stupid. Anyway, the main attraction followed immediately after and I noticed right away that this was an old and/or heavily used print because it resembled the fake worn look of Grindhouse. Except that the scratches and crackling were very real. At first, I was a bit disappointed, being used to the flawless DVD version I own, but then I realized that it made me feel like I was transported back in time to some dumpy theatre. It seemed authentic, I guess. The sound quality though, was truly troublesome. I expected the music of Goblin to assault my ears with all the fury of a thunderstorm, but it was really weak. Not as bad as some of the dialogue later on, which was barely audible, but the Goblin score is a vital part of the movie. I wanted to be blown away. That was hardly the worst issue, however. I managed to accept the shitty sound quality and focused more on the audience reaction during the legendary opening scenes of murder and mayhem. There was much laughter and exclamations of “Ooooh!” when the poor girl’s face was smashed up against the window by the large hairy arm, and as she was stabbed repeatedly and finally hung. I expected a vocal reaction, and, happily there was one. It felt good to see the bloodshed with an enthusiastic group. But then it happened…
“This is version is censored!” I heard a voice from the front row protest. It took a moment for it to register in my mind, but I realized he was right. The part after the hanging where the camera lingers on the dead woman below (and the hunk of glass sliced through her head) was indeed missing. There was some heavy print damage at that moment, and I thought that maybe that was the problem, but as the movie went on the censorship only became more egregious. After the guy pointed out the missing gore, another guy mockingly replied “Thanks, Professor.” The “Professor” left in disgust soon after. I thought to myself, “Should I leave as well as a gesture of solidarity?” That guy was taking a stand against censorship, after all, and this was Suspiria that was being butchered. I knew that a shorter version existed, but I had never seen it and never expected that it would be shown at the theatre. But here it was. I decided to stay, though, naively hoping that the movie wasn’t going to be hacked up too much worse. For a while, everything did seem all right. The audience laughed a lot, though nobody made any comments like one would hear at Rocky Horror or anything. It was still pleasing to see others enjoying the movie. But then came the absolutely unforgivable offense: The entire part where the blind piano player gets fired was removed. Yes, the whole thing. I was sure the audience would laugh when he called that Nazi prison guard witch “You bitch!” and was looking forward too it, but no… Gone. All gone. The only thing that was shown was his murder, but all the gore was removed! No dog ripping out his throat. Nothing! I was ripping pissed and bit saddened. Nobody appeared to be anywhere near as troubled as I was, though.
Oh yeah, and the throat slashing of Susie’s friend was cut out, too.
All in all, we’re talking about ten minutes of footage chopped right out. It was like cutting off the top part of the Mona Lisa’s head. You could do without the top part of her head, but the painting would clearly be missing something.
So, I walked out of the theatre in a bit of a daze reflecting on how bittersweet the experience was. I heard a few people discussing the missing parts, but none of them were angry like the “Professor.” I wonder if he demanded his money back or anything, or at least informed the staff of his disappointment. Maybe he’ll write an angry letter.
I just feel kind of blah.
