MovieChat Forums > The Good Thief (2003) Discussion > Bad editing or something else?

Bad editing or something else?


I wondered if anyone else noticed, but at every cut to a new scene (ie: a new location shot) there was a brief pause in the video just before it jumped to the next scene. It was similar to a pause where everything is frozen and a there is a voice over of some sort... the example that I can think of at the moment is in "Snatch" when the camera is on their faces after an explosion at the start and there is a voice over.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had noticed this as well. Or someone can tell me I am delusional.

Thanks!

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Yeah, I noted the same thing in my user comments for the movie.

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Freeze frames at the end of scenes are done on purpose. At Neil Jordan's level of filmmaking, everthing you see, hear and feel, you can bet they are there for a reason. I felt that there are significant stylistic similarities to "ChungKing Express" by Wong Kar-Wei, a Hong Kong based filmmaker and his talented cameraman is Christopher Doyle.

Overall, I felt that the editing in the movie lacks tension in juggling the drama and the heist effectively. But it still manages to be a beautiful film.

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[deleted]

At one and the same time I found the pauses, distracting, cute and poignant. A bit like an unusual sea salt sprinkled on a a meal. To me it emphasised the point that there was a director directing, and an editor editing, but since they did such a good job, did they need that extra sprinkle?

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I think I agree with cowironchef. The pauses distracted me and took me out of the movie. Not seriously out of the movie, but it reminded me I was watching a movie.

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I agree for the most part. There were some scenes where it worked, and others where it was unnecessary. They could have chosen to use it less frequently (and maybe held the shot just a bit longer), and it probably would have been more effective.

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I just watched The Good Thief on DVD last night and had I not seen it during it's theatrical run I would have suspected that the DVD or my player was on the fritz because of the pauses - a stylish punctuation that I really liked - but I'm wondering how many people who are first watching the flick on DVD will respond to the pauses that could easily be mistaken for scratches on the disc.

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[deleted]

It's impossible the director would cause the movie to skip in the devoid-of-purpose way it happens on the DVD.
At the very end of the movie, last shot, the last song that keys up just after the last line, the movie stalls again, interrupting the first lyric of the song, making it sound like a CD skipping.
(as the lyric goes: "tha-at's life...")

Now, seriously, forks, it may have SEEMED like it was intentional. It may have actually enhanced the viewing pleasure of all you who rationalized it into the story-telling thread of the movie. But it was somebody else's unintentional f-up when they authored the DVD.

So don't be crazy. E-mail the kids over at Fox Home Entertainment [email protected] and get a DVD that works right. DVDs are NOT perfect. They DO mess up when they make them. If you don't believe me, check out the "Back to the Future" message board thread: "DVD Question. Can someone please help?"

"We can't stop here. This is BAT country!"
- Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

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[deleted]

Listen to the Director's commentary on the DVD and he talks about how he used these pauses as punctuation, like a comma, to emphasise particular moments

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I noticed it to..weird

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not very good cinematograghy,in my opinion anyway,but the director/editor gets marks for trying a different angle.i cleaned the disc after viewing for fingerprints,if it had been quality art in my view of course, i'd have not noticed but subconsciously said wow !.

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My dvd I rented from Netflix had a glich in it that froze the film just as Bob was going to tell about his 2nd robbery plot. I skipped past that part so lost exactly how he was to set up the phoney robbery plot which caused me some confusion. Then I noticed all the "skips" and thought that was a fault in the disk. However the director said he did it on purpose. It did not work for me as a freeze frame has to be longer or it looks like a fault in the film.

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how could people not notice. it was annoying after a while.

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Yeah, I didn't like it either. Very distracting. I def thought it was a glitch in the dvd and was going to tell the people in my rental store about it.

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It was very annoying and lame. I can just imagine them thinking how creative and intelligent they are including it, emphasising scenes or whatever? It was truly unnecessary, especially in such a boring, generic film.

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the editing was wonderful.. stupid americans cant understand art i guess

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Lol, "can't understand art"? That's a bit over-dramatic... we are talking about a crappy editing job here. Well I'm not american anyway.

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[deleted]

Are you replying to me? Because, I never said it was unintentional.

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I have a degree in film. I enjoy films. I am an American. I wanted to really like this film, yet I was left annoyed by the silly editing. My Prof would have flunked my project if I were to turn that in. I have but one question. What happened to making an interesting film instead of making an interesting way of showing a film. I guess that we are out of ideas to use to make an "American Film." Instead of making a good cake, we slap on a bunch of frosting to make a "better" cake.

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First Windmills learn to make your arguments without insults. Its not inteligent at all, adds no weight to your arguments, and really just pisses people off. Some of the things you said here if you'd said in a bar converstation you might have gotten your head smashed in. You have all right points but you don't have to resort to name calling. In fact when you do that it makes your arguments seem less substantial, you don't have a real good point so you just call people names.
Now let me address the film. Its an all right flim, not the greatest, and intentionally put in or not those skips are annyoning, at least on the DVD, they might have had more impact in the theatrical version. Monte Carlo did look great, and as to Nolte's mumbeling, just hit the subtitles button on the remote and your set. However the speech patterns of Notle's character are important to the film. He is a fast talking ex con see, always spinning some tale, working an angle, and a part of that is getting people to say what, repeat that, as a matter of fact I'd have put that in the film. People forcing Notle to repeat himself, because that's what he wants them to do. He wants them to be so busy trying to figure out what he's saying that they're not thinking about what's up his sleeve. Makes sense to me, kinda like letting that pimp beat him up so he could get Anne's passport back.

Once again folks please let your arguments rest on their own merit, cut the damn insults out of your speech, it makes you look like the moron. Besides I'd rather be moron the off anyday.

Spread the Love...I'm Out

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We can't understand art? Sounds like someone can't understand the concept that we are all the same people; there are artists, heroes, rapists, lovers, and thieves in every corner of the world. Take your pride and shove it. No wonder everyone hates you. Thanks for the reminder.

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I saw the movie on HBO, and the skips were at the end of the scenes also. It wasn't on purpose by the director/editors it was due to being terrible editors, and a low budget project, definitely annoying though.

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[deleted]

yes, i agree

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Not only the editing sucked,so did the acting! Neil Jordan, Neil Shmordan... awful.The only cool thing about the movie was Emir Kusturica!

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The posts in this thread break my heart... anyone with an even passing interest and understanding of cinema would recognize that in "The Good Thief", Jordan is paying homage to the French new wave crime films of the 1950's and 60's. The specific influence for "The Good Thief", both in story and style, was Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le flambeur", a terrific French heist picture from 1955.

One of the trademarks of the French New Wave, particularly in the films of Godard and Truffaut, was the creative use of editing. Many of the auters of the FNW began their careers as film critics, and infused a self-awareness into their films that was part of their particular style and energy.

So the posters who complain that the freeze-frames and other editorial flourishes take them out of the movie, or remind them that they're watching one are missing the point. That's what they're SUPPOSED to do.

I, for one, loved the New Wave vibe of Jordan's film, which was perhaps 2002's most underrated films. The editing is fantastic-- but unique, and unadventurous filmgoers fear the unfamiliar.

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^Finally, someone who gets it.

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To be fair it's far inferior to the original and the freeze frame editing is just lame, as are the 'colourful' characters. Worst remake EVER.

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"Are you guys joking? You're looking to deep into artistics interpretations of the movie and neil jordans level of film making, the editing was terrible, they used slow-mo in the wrong scenes and out of context, cheap final cut or adobe affects with the wrong use of trails, the pausing at the end of the scene was in my opinion just bad editing on avid or something. The film was great but the cheap editing let it down. No film maker would do something so annoying like that. "

no filmaker, that is, apart from Jordan. You seem to have a superficial knowledge of film. The editing was stylized - when Scorcese robs it off of French New Wave directors everybody kisses his *ss.

Great film - great Nolte performance.

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I see what you mean about the hommage to the French New Wave thing, but to me Neil Jordans "hommage" failed. I love the French New Wave... I hated this film. I loved "Bob Le Flambeur"... I hated this film.

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no filmaker, that is, apart from Jordan. You seem to have a superficial knowledge of film. The editing was stylized - when Scorcese robs it off of French New Wave directors everybody kisses his *ss.


Reading this thread you realise why films like The Avengers and The Dark Knight are now considered pinnacles of modern moviemaking. Audiences no longer go to the cinema to see "filmmaking", they go to see illustrated text. Most movies these days are about as cinematically adventurous as an episode of Dallas. It's all coverage; just point and shoot.

Anyway, in regards to the OP, the editing isn't there simply to pay lip-service to the French new wave, but to suggest an element of disruption and agitation.

The visual style of the film - from the over-saturated colours of the cinematography, to the jarring scene transitions and the soundtrack comprising of jazz and Leonard Cohen - are each intended to evoke the personality of the central character (a heroin addict divorced from his own time and place and as such seeing the world as an outsider) and the character of the film's location (a vibrant but seedy underworld; more hopped-up fever dream than anything closer to reality).

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In my opinion that just didn't work. It was annoying the first time all the way through to the last.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman.

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