FINAL CUT (aka Z aka COUPEZ!, 2023)

New on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand, and digital download from Kino Lorber Films!
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius.
Written by Michel Hazanavicius, Shin’ichirô Ueda, Ryoichi Wada.
Starring Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Sébastien Chassagne, Raphaël Quenard, Lyès Salem, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Simone Hazanavicius, Agnès Hurstel, Charlie Dupont, Yoshiko Takehara, Yumi Narita, Raïka Hazanavicius, Luàna Bajrami, Florence Janas, Yvon Martin, Marie Petiot, Léa Millet, Edwina Zajdermann, Margot Théry, Enzo Pernet, Halim Akytar, Chrystal Boursin, Youna Ledermann, Philippe Cariou, Philippe Maymat, Natalia Giro

Four years ago, a film called ONE CUT OF THE DEAD was released from Japan and though many haven’t seen it, it still became quite the cult hit to those in the know (like the people who check out my reviews, nuff said). It was a film that if you saw it, you wanted others to see it and experience this celebration of horror and filmmaking so you can watch the film work its magic on someone else as it did you. I honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t seen it that doesn’t love it. When word got out that a remake was in the works, I groaned. Once again, a great concept is going to go through a stale Americanized rehash for those who don’t like to read their movies and can’t take international films. But instead of being translated into English, the remake of ONE CUT OF THE DEAD turned out to be remade by a French filmmaker named Michel Hazanavicius who cast the film with French actors, speaking French. So screw you, guys who can’t stand foreign films. This is another version of ONE CUT OF THE DEAD retitled FINAL CUT. Surely, the French wouldn’t be able to capture the essence of ONE CUT OF THE DEAD’s bold and refreshing love of cinema all over again, right?

Wrong!

FINAL CUT follows pretty much the same storyline and storytelling format as the original. It opens with a 30 minute long single take movie about a group of filmmakers making a zombie movie who actually bumble their way into evoking a curse that resurrects real zombies. After that is a flashback where we are made privy to the chaos leading up to the filming of the movie, entitled Z or COUPEZ! Presented as an idea brought from Japan to France for a remake, the last part of the film shows the behind the scenes mayhem that goes on to make the 30 minute one take work and it’s pure cinematic gold.

While there are parts that don’t work as well, other parts of FINAL CUT work even better as seen through a French lens. Added to the film is a bit more slapstick. ONE CUT OF THE DEAD was goofy enough, but there’s a French style of humor that makes the whole thing even funnier in my opinion. In the final portion of the film, where all of the weirdness we saw in the first segment is explained, the antics of the director and his crew reach new levels of buffoonery and equal parts luck and genius in order to make the whole thing work.

One thing I think ONE CUT OF THE DEAD did well was the family aspect. There was a wholesomeness to the way the Japanese family interacted with one another that the French version attempts, but doesn’t quite achieve. That said, I think the final moments of FINAL CUT hit me harder on an emotional level and I was surprised at how one little beat made the tears fall.

I understand that comparing the two films isn’t really fair to either and honestly, a double feature of the ONE CUT OF THE DEAD and FINAL CUT would make for some very interesting watching as both films are relatively the same, but different enough to entertain on their own. As is, I’d love to see other countries take a what at remaking this film, adding their own regional nuances as FINAL CUT does. Either way, FINAL CUT is a fantastic remake of an equally fantastic movie. There are not many films that are able to capture the drive man has to create art and the lengths he or she will go to achieve it. FINAL CUT and the original ONE CUT OF THE DEAD do just that. It celebrates what we cinephiles love about cinema as well as the fact that there are movies out there that simply feel magical.

Check out the trailer here!!