Author Topic: The Devils Directors Cut on Sky Arts?  (Read 8347 times)

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wayne

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Re: The Devils Directors Cut on Sky Arts?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2009, 05:07:34 PM »
I too had spoken with Sky Arts regarding the rumour of them screening the restored edit of THE DEVILS along with the documemtaries they had acquired and was told that the press release they put out made no such mention and that some reports in the media had somehow got it into their heads that a version of THE DEVILS had been acquired to be screened also.

There are no plans to screen the film or look into licensing the rights for TV screening either...


Wayne

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Re: The Devils Directors Cut on Sky Arts?
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2009, 05:04:26 PM »
I believe they found everything that was missing bar the tiny trims. The tiny trims made to the film were very likely binned at the time as they were so slight that reintegrating them into a version of the film at a later time would have been too messy to do and even if achieved would have looked awful. The main trims i can think of were to the leg-breaking of Grandier. This sequence was cut, then trimmed some more...trimmed some more...and some more...literally removing frames of film at one point. So, chances of ever seeing that footage materialise is very likely beyond all hope now...
The only other footage i can recall that was cut that was not mentioned in the documentary as being found in that can of footage was the defecation on the altar during the "public exorcism". There was footage cut that showed the "sh*t on the altar" as Russell termed it and i am guessing that this was not dwelled upon but rather shown for a second or two at the very most. If that was the case, then that would explain why that cut has not been spoken of as available for restoration amongst the found footage as it would no doubt have suffered a similar fate to the near-subliminal trims the Grandier leg-breaking endured. We are talking maybe one second of "sh*t on the altar" and a second or 2 of Grandier's legs being pulped (which, as i say, was demolished almost frame-by-frame)...
But, like you point out, the majority of the cut footage has been found now and is ripe for restoration. The missing few seconds will not really cause much grief amongst fans once they see a restored version materialise, but it IS sad that these tiny fragments are probably lost to time now and that, somewhat frustratingly, Russell's film will never be QUITE the full original vision!
What we have officially available on video (UK edition at least) is around 95% complete. A restoration using the found footage will ensure we get a 99.9% restored edit that will be, for most intents and purposes, the "director's cut" that Russell and all of us have been wanting to see for so long...

Offline richmond74

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Re: The Devils Directors Cut on Sky Arts?
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2009, 08:39:41 PM »
By way of an update, I've received a response from Sky Arts, reading:

Unfortunately, we don’t have The Devils in license in any version – directors cut or otherwise. The non-directors cut version has been shown on BBC2, Channel 4 and on Sky Movies in the past but never on Sky Arts.

So, back where we were. Not sure where Broadcast Magazine got their information from, but a great shame.

I suppose there is a good chance the Lucida Hell on Earth documentary will get shown as part of the package of programmes Sky Arts have bought, so a small crumb if nothing else. Here's hoping Sky Customer Service got it wrong...

Incidentally, does anyone know exactly what footage was found when Mark Kermode/Lucida came across the fabled cans of cut material? Hell on Earth mentioned two complete assemblies of The Rape of Christ plus showed excerpts from Sister's Jeanne's masturbation with the tibia, a bawdy pantomine in the sqaure mimicking the events in the abbey (I always wondered what the full context of the stage was alongside the stake and this revealed it brilliantly) and a couple of shots of debauched nuns (including the big dog lying alongside them, which I always thought was myth until seeing it). I was lucky enough to be at the screening at the NFT a few years ago, but that only managed to include the rape and masturbation scenes, not any of the more incidental, but just as fascinating, footage.



Offline richmond74

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The Devils Directors Cut on Sky Arts?
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2009, 10:08:02 AM »
I'm not sure if anyone can verify this, but Broadcast magazine (article dated 26th March 2009) state that Sky Arts have acquired the UK TV rights to show the 'directors cut' of The Devils, tentatively for August this year.

I've emailed Sky Arts for confirmation, but not yet recevied a response. Can anyone shed any light on this or add any extra information?

The Broadcast article concerned Sky's purchase of the rights to show various Lucida TV documentaries and productions, including of course the Hell on Earth documentary (apparently due for broadcast in August also).

If true, I think this could be the TV event of the year - a widescreen, uncut showing, phew! - plus of course Sky Arts don't normally interupt films with advert breaks.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2010, 12:51:30 AM by Iain Fisher »