Imagine a movie about making a zombie movie, but then it turns out the zombies are real. Go a step further and imagine the remake. Written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius’ Final Cut Is the French remake of Shin’ichirō Ueda’s 2017 horror comedy One Cut of the Dead. Final Cut has every bit of the charm of its source material. Final Cut is inventive while respecting the original’s innovation.
A producer, Mme Matsuda (Yoshiko Takehara), approaches Remi (Romain Duris), a director who mainly makes his living with small projects. Mme Matsuda proposes that Remi create the remake of a Japanese film. The project is ambitious: It must be both live and done in one-take. Remi, is hesitant as it is quite an undertaking, but eager to impress his film aficionado daughter, he commits himself to the task. Takehara reprises her role as producer from One Cut of the Dead. It would be one thing to do a direct remake, but Hazanivicius’ adaptation goes one step further as his director Remi attempts to navigate the cultural discrepancies and nuances of an adaptation.
Final Cut is both cutting edge and hilarious in its execution. Mixing comedy with artistry, Final Cut highlights the struggles of screenwriting and working with prima donna actors on a low budget film. The cast is stellar and has excellent chemistry. Berenice Beni plays Nadia, an actress who has retired because she is unable to get out of her acting zone. Beni has wonderful comedic timing which works dynamically with her costars Duris, Finnegan Oldfield, and Ana Matilda Lutz.
Final Cut is a comedy of errors, but manages to successfully pull off the feats of one take film making as well as providing engaging characters and a clever and amusing script. Final Cut has been making its way through film circuits with high praise. It is a film for the aspiring filmmaker and serves as a love letter to the low budget creator.
Final Cut opens in theaters July 14
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