A fun homage to Japanese B-series horror cinema - Final Cut - Marina's review

(from Cannes Luigi Noera and Marina Pavido – Photos are courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival)

Many will remember the brilliant horror comedy Zombie vs Zombie, realized in 2017 dal giovane Shin’ichirō Ueda. What would happen, therefore, if a remake of this film was made, set, this time, in Europe? Soon said. Usually it has always paid homage to important currents of the past (impossible not to remember the homage to silent cinema The Artist) or make reinterpretations of great classics (see, just, the saga Agent 117), the French director Michel Hazanavicius, which is now at home on the Croisette, wanted to direct a new version of the bizarre Japanese film, presented - out of competition - at the opening of 75Th Cannes Film Festival. And here, so, comedy came to life Final Cut, con protagonist Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo and a sparkling Matilda Lutz.

Remi (impersonated, just, by Duris) he is a director who is commissioned for an unusual project: shoot a film of about half an hour based on some Japanese manga. The film must be shot entirely in sequence and the names of the protagonists must be the same as in the manga, although there are no Japanese actors in the cast. After a series of misadventures it will be the turn of the director and his wife Nadia (Bejo) impersonate the protagonists.

Final Cut it is undoubtedly a hilarious film, where the narrative structure (in which we initially see the finished product, to then witness a long flashback that, man mano, takes us back to the moment of filming by revealing everything that happened behind the camera) fully reflects Shin’ichirō Ueda's previous feature film.

The homage to Japanese Serie B horror is alive and pulsating, the “packaging” is practically flawless. The problem - as often happens with Hazanavicius films - is that it has been around for a long time, too long we see the director live practically on income thanks to what he has achieved in the past. With The Artist it worked. And they also liked it a lot. Now one wonders what would happen if the director were to write an original screenplay of his own. This one's Final Cut it is an enjoyable film overall, enriched by a small subplot featuring the director and his daughter and which gives freshness and a welcome lyricism to the entire work. But, just, after a series of tributes and reworkings, where are the ideas?

marina fears