Martin Scorsese doesn’t do director’s cuts. And you’re not going get deleted scenes out of him too often either. While editor Thelma Schoonmaker revealed last month that the idea of releasing a 2-part, 4-hour version of “The Wolf Of Wall Street” was bandied about, that “version” will likely never see the light of day. As far as Scorsese is concerned, while there has been much chatter around that cut, for him it was just the first step of making any movie and it’s not his definitive vision.
The filmmaker recently chatted with Gold Derby about the movie, and when asked about the longer cut, Scorsese did tease that we might get to see some of that cutting room floor material. But he cautions anyone thinking that the 4-hour cut was anything more than just an assembly. “Well, I think there are some scenes we could make available, so to speak,” he said. “Quite honestly, the four-hour version was just the first cut. I mean, ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore‘…that was a three-hour, fifteen minute cut, the first cut, [but] the film is an hour and forty five. So it’s part of a filmmaking process. I don’t think there’s any major scene that I dropped. We did do some wonderful improvisations and some very funny moments we had to whittle down so to speak, and I do miss a few of those.”
So, what were the big difference between the 3 and 4-hour versions? When it comes down to it: rhythm. “But invariably, what happened from the four hour to the three hour version, is that finally I got the pace I wanted to. I finally got it going. I finally pushed and pushed and pushed and put the energy straight through the picture, and so it made it tighter,” Scorsese said, adding that if that meant making a two-hour movie, he would’ve done that.
Food for thought for those clamoring for more, more, more from a picture that certainly goes to the extreme of excess thematically and narratively. Check out the interview below, followed by a 12-minute conversation with Scorsese, Schoonmaker, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, writer Terence Winter, costume designer Sandy Powell and casting director Ellen Lewis. And lastly, a 30-minute one-on-one interview with the Scorsese.
omg i watched thi today and i loved it i love leonardo it allway seems kike he is geting intrubel with fbi like catch me if u can and he likes beung in long movues like this one and titanic and more any way lets alo mae the second one
The final movie we saw in theatres could have been cut by 1.5 hours and been the richer for it. Self indulgent tripe.
How long are we supposed to pretend Scorsese's NOT stale?
How many times are we supposed to watch snorting coke
from mirrors, 'pour know' and warmed over Oliver Stone 'decadence'
—-and think we're seeing art? –receiving a culture?
What's really weird is they seem to be outsourcing PR work to foreign countries where the grasp on American phrasing and grammar is awkward to say the least.
He's the best!!! Love his work!!!
Just saw the movie!!!!!
Man that guy Jordan is really intense, thank god I don't relate to his values.
But the movie was really cool, really well shot. Now I know I can write my script like I want to. I dislike how they teach you how to write a typical script, it's so boring, at least here they try something different;
God, 3 embarrassing PR trolls in a row! I guess subtlety was never their strong suit. The more Scorsese is worshipped, the more critical I am toward him. At this point, he's more that "cute little old man at the Oscars" than an actual filmmaker.
Scorsese is the ultimate dude! No wonder he grew up in the 60s and 70s, he's got that styyyyle!
And he's funny!
Yeahhh! Love how he's a free spirit! He's got very good things to say about this movie. He's not a follower. The movies he has done are impressive. And it reassures me to know that there are film makers like him out there who deeply care about that art. His journey must have been hard but he was able to make movies with impact, that will be part of history.
I read a letter he wrote for his daughter. (open letter) It's so sweet! Beautifully written! So happy Scorsese exists! Nourishing what we have inside us and preventing other people to destroy it. You really do have to express how you see things, how you feel. Any kind of new machine and new technology will not give you eyes, you've got to have a particular way of looking at things to communicate them.
A scene was whittled down? You mean there were scenes that went on three times too long instead of just two times too long? The mind boggles.