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Post by vmaciv on Jul 20, 2011 4:09:22 GMT
I have to say when he banged his head on the steering wheel my sister and I really laughed. It is so atypical of the sexy guy that it is endearing.
I am not really good at the ratings thing so I was not able to find anything. But PBS typically does not draw a large audience. I do not know if anyone else has any figures I will keep looking to see if I come up with anything
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Post by tipou on Jul 20, 2011 4:15:06 GMT
to prairie girl: the fact that this whole sequence is cut just leaves loose ends that seem to be useless, i,e. the long conversation with the housekeeper's ukrainian wife about the fact that vasko is not really ukrainian but italian - and then you dont hear from him again. why not cut that convo as well?
and i also enjoyed the humour at the end of that scene: how vasko, about to bring zen back to the village, opens the car trunk and invites him to hop back in, mocking the way he was brought in - and zen politely declining. that was the very essence of this subtle humour that i enjoyed so much, from both the books and the series.
you would think the pbs people would be more discerning than doing that kind of savage and senseless cut.
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Post by kissmekate on Jul 20, 2011 7:23:57 GMT
I have to say when he banged his head on the steering wheel my sister and I really laughed. It is so atypical of the sexy guy that it is endearing. This remains one of my favourite scenes in the whole series, so sweet and funny. I love how he bangs his head on the wheel, pauses for a moment and then does it again as if to confirm that yes, he must indeed have been an idiot to assume Tania isn't seeing anyone else. The bashful and somewhat schoolboyish way he has around her makes the whole romance thing special and cute and so refreshingly "normal". Your everyday corridor-striding ... erm ... cop would have swept the office beauty off her feet the minute she laid eyes on him (yawn). Zen's shyness is much more real and lovable! |
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Post by PrairieGirl on Jul 20, 2011 17:20:57 GMT
Hi tipou, agree totally. I'm not a film editor, but they could have easily cut 5, 10, or 20 seconds here and there throughout the whole episode (especially in the transitions) without jeopardizing the plot like they did. Watching on Sunday, I remember seeing him walking up to the church, and since I knew what was coming next from seeing Vendetta many times on DVD, I went into the kitchen where I could still hear and glance at the screen. All of a sudden Zen is the police office again with Tito Spadola, and I went  , I can't believe they cut the whole scene! I was pretty taken aback. I will be on the lookout for more major deletions like that in the next two episodes. |
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Post by rueful on Jul 20, 2011 19:58:46 GMT
Going back a page, thanks Kate for posting the text of the interview!
Thanks also to Welshdragon for posting that blog. Loved it! Especially Rufus Sewell should look into patenting this highly effective retch-to-heartwarming pivot thing. He has it down.
. So funny!
I also loved the banging the head scene. So adorable!
PrarieGirl, thanks for restoring the missing minutes! Honestly, that was one of the worst cuts I've ever seen. It must have made no sense to people who hadn't seen the original. I wish everyone who watched Zen on Sunday could see your video.
I've been thinking of other places they could have cut minutes, such as transitions, or more of the car driving/chase scenes. Even the scene with his mother at Gilberto's house, after the shootout, could have been cut. Not that I would have liked that either (in fact, I'd probably be complaining loudly), since it was a nice moment for Rufus and the woman playing his mother, but at least it wouldn't have destroyed a major plot point.
Going way back to something we discussed when this aired in the UK. I think Zen and his mother DID go down the fire escape! First, the bad guys glance at the elevator as it goes down, so if there was anyone in it they would have seen, and second, they had to kick in the door because the chain was on it. Not possible if Zen and Mama had gone out that way. Zen talking Mama into going down the fire escape--that's a missing scene I would have loved to see!
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Post by welshdragon on Jul 21, 2011 7:17:53 GMT
A nice comment from a reviewer about Aurelio and Tania - "He becomes smitten with her, and it’s very easy to see why. She returns the feelings, because Zen is handsome, and he’s a nice guy.
How many TV detectives live at home with their mothers? Sewell is proof that nice guys can smolder."  Going back to the comments about the cut scene - that was one of my favourites in Vendetta - when Zen says "couldn't you have just called during office hours?" and Avel says something like " I hate to see the old ways die out!" and the next morning when they leave the house Zen looking slightly the worse for wear! Very cute!  |
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Post by PrairieGirl on Jul 21, 2011 16:55:01 GMT
Hi welshdragon, I like the dialog you mentioned a lot too. And when Avel asks to tell a family story, Zen gives in to staying the night and goes vigorously right for the food and drink! So many actors just play with their food, most of the time Rufus really digs in and devours ;-D
Rueful, I'm sure you're right about the fire escape. But I agree that something major must have been cut there too because it's too much of a leap to expect the viewers to know exactly how they got out with just what was shown. Too bad the DVD doesn't have more of those kind of deleted scenes.
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Post by kissmekate on Jul 21, 2011 17:04:27 GMT
I think how exactly they escaped from the house was left pretty much in the dark in the original version, too (it must have been the fire escape, though, as they would have run into the gangsters if they had gone out the front door - and I'll have to have a look at that chain when I watch again).
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Post by corndolly on Jul 21, 2011 17:14:40 GMT
From comments elsewhere in the media it seems that scenes are often cut when programmes are transferred from UK to USA. Large chunks are missing from the US version of Charles II: The Power and the Passion (I think it was The Last King there but not sure). So we see much more of Rufus than they do.
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jul 21, 2011 18:33:10 GMT
I have to say when he banged his head on the steering wheel my sister and I really laughed. It is so atypical of the sexy guy that it is endearing. This remains one of my favourite scenes in the whole series, so sweet and funny. I love how he bangs his head on the wheel, pauses for a moment and then does it again as if to confirm that yes, he must indeed have been an idiot to assume Tania isn't seeing anyone else. One of my absolute favourite scenes, too! Also I thought it conveyed how stupid he felt, having actually driven her to meet him.  Priceless! (Corndolly, yes, "The Last King" was the US title for "Charles II: The Power and the Passion". A lot was indeed cut, but apparently there were one or two scenes in the US version that weren't in the UK original!) |
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Post by PrairieGirl on Jul 21, 2011 19:02:57 GMT
So corndolly, you're saying that when Zen was shown last January on BBC1, they broadcast the entire 90 minutes that are on the DVD, with no cuts? And yes, in the US Charles II was called The Last King.
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Post by rueful on Jul 21, 2011 19:41:36 GMT
Sorry to cause confusion, PrairieGirl. I didn't mean there was a scene with his mother that was cut. I meant I would have loved it if they had made such a scene, because I can't imagine an elegant lady like that agreeing to climb out the fire escape. It does look like PBS is selling the full BBC version, because the info says it's 266 minutes, which would be about 88 minutes each episode. Here's the link to their sale page. www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=11645524#Details Can someone who has the region 2 version look to see how many minutes their set is? |
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jul 21, 2011 19:47:13 GMT
Can someone who has the region 2 version look to see how many minutes their set is? Oh. 262 minutes!  (I wonder if the difference is something to do with the different DVD systems?) |
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Post by PrairieGirl on Jul 21, 2011 19:53:36 GMT
Oh, rueful, I get it now. Still agree with you too, though. I would have loved to see a scene like that added too, but even if they had just panned over to the fire escape for a few seconds would have helped a lot to explain that was the way they got out of the apartment. I'll have to look at my Region 2 DVD when I get home, but online Amazon UK says 270 minutes (region 2), and Amazon US (region 1) says 266 minutes, just like the PBS site.
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Post by corndolly on Jul 22, 2011 10:57:27 GMT
Prairie Girl. Let's just say I didn't notice anything different - unless I nodded off!! Which is possible.
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(I wonder if the difference is something to do with the different DVD systems?)