Harvey Weinstein, along with his brother Bob, is a massively influential force in the film industry. In his original company Miramax, he was responsible for helping promote and support the so-called ‘independent’ movement of the late 80s and early 90s, giving directors like Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and others their big breaks.

Having sold their previous company to Disney, the two brothers’ current endeavour The Weinstein Company has been behind some of the most acclaimed and financially successful offerings of recent times, distributing films like The King’s Speech and Django Unchained.

Despite his many positive influences, Harvey has become an infamous figure in many circles. His reportedly fiery temper is legendary. However, one of his most controversial policies is his insistence on cutting down or ‘localising’ films for Western audiences. He’s even earned the nickname ‘Harvey Scissorhands’ among many cinema fans.

Cuts

It should be noted that English language films are not immune to Weinstein cuts - infamously, an entire cancer storyline was trimmed from ‘true story’ comedy Fanboys (after a backlash, the content was reshot - by a different director). However, it is more often than not foreign films subject to drastic changes.

Some of the films notably trimmed for English language markets included breakthrough hits Shaolin Soccer, Hero and Cinema Paradiso. While some filmmakers were willing to assist the re-edit, others were less so. In the most well-known example, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki sent Miramax an actual katana with the message ‘no cuts’ after Weinstein demanded edits to the animation Princess Mononoke.

In these days of lighter censorship, digital distribution and blockbusters that are seemingly contractually obliged to be 120 minutes or longer, many thought the days of cuts had passed. Unfortunately, two recent examples suggest the process is alive and well.

The Grandmaster and Snowpiercer

This week martial arts biopic The Grandmaster, from acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, is released in the US (the Irish release date is unconfirmed, but The Weinstein Company are also handling its distribution here). The subtitled version is arriving on screens 20-minutes shorter than its original version.

In Weinstein’s defense, Wai himself supervised the requested re-edit, keen to make some of the cultural references clearer for non-Chinese viewers. However, the feedback about the new version has been negative. One writer observed, “if you’ve only seen the American Cut of The Grandmaster, you haven’t seen The Grandmaster.” Luckily, the ‘uncut’ version is available on import friendly DVD and BluRay, although fans of the director will surely be disappointed they cannot see the full experience on the big screen.

More controversial still is the case of Snowpiercer. Due out later this year or early next, the film is the first (mostly) English-language effort from Korean director Bong Joon-ho, best known here for his cult monster film The Host. It doesn't even have to bare the commercial burden of subtitles, and feedback from its Korean release has been extremely positive.

We should again expect a version that loses 20 minutes. Weinstein’s justification? So the film “will be understood by audiences in Iowa… and Oklahoma”. He has also reportedly requested explanatory voiceovers to be added.

More than anything, the case of Snowpiercer suggests that these drastic re-edits illustrate a significant lack of trust in the audience. At worst, it’s even condescending. Perhaps cutting down films does make them slightly more commercially viable for the English language market - Weinstein is, after all, behind several of the most successful international releases. But the reality is a lot of these films are unlikely to be blockbuster hits one way or another. Instead, cuts like these risk alienating the fans and enthusiast audiences who are going to go out and see new films from these directors.

Weinstein has previously stated the reason he makes these cuts is his love for cinema, and wants more audiences to experience the films he loves. Alas, it’s his fellow film fans who are the ones most negatively affected by his self-proclaimed passion for cinema, and in the worst case scenarios we're effectively not even seeing the same films he does. It will be interesting to see how both The Grandmaster and Snowpiercer fare commercially and critically in Weinstein territories.

(Image: Holger Ellgaard)