In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Friday 12 August 2016

Raising Cain: Re-Cut (1992)

A fan-edit (by Peet Gelderblom) of De Palma's film that re-sequenced the existing version in an attempt to "approximate" the director's "original vision" as it was written in the shooting script, an order that was changed in post-production to one that was more or less chronological.
Previously, after the credits we were introduced to Carter Nix (Lithgow). In Re-Cut that's changed to a scene featuring his wife, Jenny (Lolita Davidovich). It's just the beginning of a striking reshuffle that alters how we view the film. The POV shift makes Carter a background figure, characterised more by his wife's feelings and words than by his own. The lengthy flashback as envisioned originally is made real, with the knock on effect of offering up new questions and being suggestive of new reasons for familiar actions.
Brian De Palma saw it and liked it so much that he gave his blessing for it to get an official release as an extra on some editions of the film. If you're open to the idea of a re-cut, it's well worth seeking out.

4 timely counterpoints out of 5

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