14 DAY TRIAL // Director Quentin Tarantino has never been the kind to do something without causing a stir and, clearly, his latest movie is no exception to that. “Inglourious Basterds” premiered at this year’s edition of the Cannes Film Festival and got mixed reviews, but the only concession Tarantino is willing to make is to head back in the studio and add a couple of scenes before the release, as AceShowbiz informs.
Speculation about this happening has been making the rounds ever since the first screening of the film, with many reviewers attacking it for being too “talkative” and too little action-filled. It is precisely because of this that Tarantino has agreed to go back in the editing room, where he’ll reportedly add at least one more scene to the film to make it more of a crowd pleaser than before.
“Following her interview with Tarantino earlier, Anne [Thompson of Variety] broke the story that the helmer will return to the editing room post-Cannes to make some edits for his epic World War II drama. She noted that Tarantino reminded his Cannes version of ‘Basterds’ is ‘13 minutes less than Pulp Fiction and 19 minutes less than he needed to retain final cut.’” the aforementioned publication says, confirming early reports that Tarantino did, indeed, rush to make “Basterds” happen before Cannes.
“While it boasts some memorable scenes, it seemed incomplete and was weighed down with verbosity rather than jam-packed with action and thrills. By his own admission, Tarantino rushed to finish the film in time to compete in the Cannes Film Festival. He would have been better off screening it out of competition and designating it a work in progress. In fact he told me, at a Soho House party, that he left hours of footage on the cutting room floor. He should go home, lock himself in an editing suite – attend no parties! – and re-shape the film.” the Daily Mail was saying days ago, when official word of Tarantino’s intentions had not yet gotten out.
With all this, hype for the WWII-focused epic is building up fast, even if it is described as the kind of film that not all audiences can enjoy. Precisely because of this, the question of how those who hated the first edit of “Basterds” could possibly love a longer version of it is on the lips of many right now. Tarantino for one seems to believe that adding more minutes would make the film more thrilling – and he risks to actually make it worse by killing whatever is left good of it, critics say.
Whichever may be the case, fans will get to see the final result in August, when “Inglourious Basterds” drops in US theaters.