Taboo-breaker Tom Six decries film’s fascist edit (but where are his peers?)
It must take a lot to rattle Tom Six.
The director of “The Human Centipede” franchise wallows in repulsive material. That trilogy alone is marked by gruesome visuals few films could duplicate.
Even shooting “The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)” in black and white didn’t diminish Six’s signature ick factor or his satirical appetites.
The first film in the trilogy left Roger Ebert unable to review it in his usual fashion.
The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don’t shine.
Yet Six is aghast that someone, either Disney or another party with rights over the film in question, censored the 1971 Best Picture winner “The French Connection.”
Hollywood-Elsewhere broke the story in recent days, teaming with the site’s readers to share how the censorship in question didn’t happen once. Both The Criterion Channel and Turner Classic Movies are streaming an edited version of the film without telling audiences about the change.
The sequence in question involves the film’s lead, Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), spouting ethnic slurs to his colleague.
Six shared his disgust at the scene’s removal on social media.
Six hasn’t directed a released film since “The Human Centipede 3: Final Sequence” in 2015. He says his most recent project, “The Onania Club,” can’t find a distribution due to its incendiary material.
The film reportedly follows a group of women who find sexual stimulation from tragedy, including footage from the 9/11 attacks.
He still understands why art must be protected. He also is willing to stand up to the modern-day censors without fear of reprisal.
It’s noteworthy that few, if any, of his peers have similarly criticized the film’s censorship.