Cut! is a 2022 French remake of the Japanese film-within-a-film zombie comedy horror hit film One Cut of the Dead (2017). Also known as Final Cut and Coupez!
Written, co-produced and directed by Michel Hazanavicius based on One Cut of the Dead by Shin’ichirô Ueda and Ryoichi Wada. Also produced by Brahim Chioua, Alain de la Mata, Noémie Devide, Florence Gastaud, Vincent Maraval and John Penotti.
The movie stars Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Lutz and Raphaël Quenard.
Reviews:
” …this remake is itself therefore about a remake, thus adding another metafictional level to the proceedings. The result is something appreciably sillier and more eccentric than the original, with some gags about patronising and stereotypical European attitudes to the Japanese which make it broader still, and sometimes it’s a tiny bit self-conscious in unintentional ways.” 3 out of 5, The Guardian
” …a remake should really try to add something new to the material it already has. And aside from some nods to the original and references to Adam Driver, the film doesn’t do that. It’s fun but isn’t fresh in the slightest, which feels like a missed opportunity. In the end, Final Cut is quite fun.” Loud and Clear
“One Cut of the Dead had its dull stretches, but it got away with a lot more because of its low budget; it compensated for a lack of resources with cleverness. That means that doing a glossy, widescreen cover of it is a fatally flawed idea […] And Hazanavicius, who wrote the screenplay in addition to directing, has barely modified the material, going beat by beat through the sorts of jokes that can really only be funny once.” RogerEbert.com
“Alongside well-paired character actors, Bérénice Bejo […] and Romain Duris win audiences over as an artist couple, who eventually (or rather the other way around) have to take on various roles for this project. It’s not only fans of the genre – and trash – who will wholeheartedly enjoy this love letter to the collaborative craft of filmmaking.” 3 out of 5, The Upcoming
“It’s about as efficient and slick as remakes come, but in upping the budget from $23,000 to somewhere in the millions, the original’s raw appeal has been axed. How can this not end up feeling like a waste of time and money when there’s a better version of the same film out there, and with roughly the same amount of international appeal?” We Love Cinema
Release:
Final Cut premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2022.
Filming locations:
Hippodrome d’Évry, Ris-Orangis, Essonne, France
Original title:
Z (comme Z)
Teaser trailer [no English subs]:
Watch the age-restricted trailer with English subtitles on YouTube