Monday 9 June 2008

De Palma's film censored over lawsuit fears

Director Brian De Palma had to censor a montage of Iraq war casualties in his new film 'Redacted' on the insistence of insurance companies, who feared relatives of the victims would sue the filmmakers.
In an interview with Empire Magazine De Palma said: "The insurance companies (didn't want their faces shown). They think that a relative of a dead baby will see the movie in the theatre and be so distressed that they'll bring a lawsuit against us."
'The Untouchables' director's anti-war film initially ended with a harrowing montage of real life fatalities, however the scene has been re-cut to disguise the victims' identities.
In September last year, De Palma received the Venice Film Festival's prestigious Best Director Silver Lion award for his film.
'Redacted' is due for release in Irish cinemas later this month.