Fight Over Gulf War Film Escalates
By Elaine Dutka
Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/090604Z.shtml
<http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/090604Z.shtml>
Saturday 04 September 2004
A clash between David O. Russell and Warner Bros. over the DVD
re-release of his Gulf War film "Three Kings" intensified Thursday as studio
executives informed the filmmaker the video could not be released before the
November election.
The news came days after the movie studio's decision to drop his
35-minute antiwar documentary, "Soldiers Pay," as a DVD bonus feature
because of its political content.
In the documentary, the director revisits some of the Iraqi extras and
advisors from the 1999 film "Three Kings" and the result is not favorable to
the current administration.
"I am contemplating having a press conference with a 1st Amendment
lawyer ... next Tuesday to say that this is censorship and an infringement
of the 1st Amendment based on political opinions," Russell said by e-mail
from Hawaii where he was vacationing.
Russell has been outspoken about having his film and the documentary
influence the political debate in the manner of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit
9/11." He is looking for alternative distribution for "Soldiers Pay," which
cost $180,000 to make, but had been pressing the studio to release the
"Three Kings" DVD in October supported by a limited theatrical run.
Studio executives say logistical problems rather than political concerns
preclude a pre-election release.
The studio says it needs 60 days after the final delivery of the
material to manufacture, distribute and market the DVD before its release.
Controversy surrounding the documentary, combined with a later-than-expected
arrival of the bonus footage, has made that a release before November
untenable, insiders say.
Russell challenges that assertion: "They claim it's now a matter of
logistics ... whereas one week ago it was possible," he said by e-mail, "and
I think if they really wanted to they could make it happen right now."
The director says Warner Chairman Barry M. Meyer told him he was in
favor of releasing "Three Kings" before the election, "but the people under
him seem to be in such a state of panic that they have no intention of doing
so.... I'm still hoping, but now we're told Meyer is unreachable blah blah
till next week, then it will be 'too late' for sure."
The studio denies that the postponement reflects a lack of support for
the film. The movie was selected for re-release - along with "THX 1138,"
"The Big Red One" and "The Shawshank Redemption" - because studio higher-ups
liked it and thought it had underperformed.
In "Three Kings," a trio of soldiers pull off a heist of Kuwaiti gold
during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
The movie is a counterpoint to the media's portrayal of the conflict,
characterizing the war as a hallucination marked by chaos and moral
confusion.
A first-quarter 2005 release date for the DVD and the limited theatrical
run is now considered likely, and a final determination is expected by the
end of next week.
"It's highly unlikely that anyone is going to give up theaters at
holiday time or prime Oscar season, " Warner spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti
said.
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