One of the most talked about films at Sundance this year was Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool. And for good reason. It’s a seriously fucked-up flick with loads of violence, gore, Alexander Skarsgard viciously fighting his own clone, degradation…oh, and lots of weird sex stuff. However, that was the NC-17 cut of the film. If you saw the R-rated version in theaters over the weekend you might have been a tad underwhelmed by what wasn’t there.
Well, you could be in luck. Cronenberg told THR that NEON does plan on dropping the NC-17 cut of Infinity Pool at some point, although he’s unsure of the details…
“There is a plan for it,” said Cronenberg. “I don’t know where we’ve landed with it, but I know there is something in the works.”
The good news is that it sounds as if there isn’t a vast difference between the two versions…
“Well, I wouldn’t say we shot a lot of stuff that isn’t in it. A surprising amount of stuff got through, to be honest. It’s not a fundamentally different film. There are a few changes. There’s a few interesting shots that are in the R version that are not in the unrated version. I wouldn’t say it’s as dramatically different as you might expect. I supervised both cuts.”
Cronenberg continued, “The ratings issue with NC-17 is generally specifically a US theatrical issue because of the way that ratings work here. In a lot of territories, there is no problem. I can’t see in the UK or in France there being any issues with ratings for this film. You make the film you want to make. You’re pragmatic about it, ‘cuz I want people to see it, I want people to see it in theaters, I want it to get the best release possible. You have to be pragmatic about it when you’re in film because there are so many weird forces shaping what you’re doing.”
I will say that the NC-17 cut that I saw with a rabid Midnight audience in Park City was tremendous, and fans of Cronenberg’s should go out of their way to see it when available.
The R-rated version of Infinity Pool is in theaters now.
