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Title: on the Director's Cut
Review: I love the film, both versions. HOWEVER, one thing most reviewers seem to overlook regarding the Director's cut is that we already know the film and are familiar with the general film noire approach to the story, character interaction, development, and so on.Classic film noire often needs narration. Even if Ford initially narrated poorly on purpose, it kind of fits in with the character. Besides which, the D Cut does nothing to replace the narration, so there are great gobs of panoramic dead air, with maybe a bit of background music. It becomes a struggle to stay focused. I tested this with two of my Media Studies sections, and the narration kept the most audience attention hands down, not to mention a keener grasp of the film.I think a perfect marriage would be to include the extra footage, the D cut ending, and selected portions of the narration.
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