(PCM) Nicolas Cage explodes into action as a veteran CIA agent who goes rogue to hunt down his enemy, a deadly terrorist in writer director Paul Schrader’s Dying of the Light.
Evan Lake, a desk-bound Langley CIA agent, is forced into retirement by signs of early onset dementia.
At the same time he discovers his former tormentor, Jihadist Muhhamed Banir, is not dead as assumed for two decades but is alive and receiving experimental medical treatment.Banir’s exact location is unknown.
With the help of a disgraced young agent Evan sets out to track down Banir.
He must confront him before it is too late–for both of them. Evan’s search leads him from Bucharest to Mombasa where, in the guise of a doctor, he confront his nemesis.
Watch the action and the drama unfold in select theaters and on demand starting December 5, 2014.
Written and directed by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, Raging Bull) Dying of the Light stars Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure), Anton Yelchin (Fright Night, Star Trek), Alexander Karim (Zero Dark Thirty, Malcolm), Irène Jacob (Three Colors: Red, The Double Life of Veronique), Adetomiwa Edun (Merlin, Shakespeare’s Globe: Romeo and Juliet), Aymen Hamdouchi (Zero Dark Thirty, Green Zone), Claudius Peters (Uni: Love Story, Minimus), and Robert G. Slade (Casino Royale, Red Lights).
Dying of the Light, like Schrader’s 2004 horror film Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, has had a fairly dramatic production. Scott Foundas of Variety wrote back in September that after turning in a second cut of the film to producers, Schrader left the film.
The producers claim that Schrader was upset with their suggested changes after the first cut of of his film deviated far from the script and the film that was discussed. After turning in a second cut of the film with no score and little changes, the produces hired their own composer, Frederik Wiedmann, and worked with a new editor.
Paul Schrader admits to walking out on the film, but only after the producers fired editor Tim Silano and told Schrader he no long had control over the Dying of the Light’s editing.
Those who have been fortunate enough to see the original cut are praising the actors’ performances and Schrader’s direction while saying that the new cut is more “conventional” and has lost Scharder’s signature style.
Executive producer Nicolas Winding Refn praised Schrader’s original cut of the film and call’s the prducer’s act of re-editing the film “artistic disrespect.”
Decide for yourself whether Schrader’s original cut would have been better when Dying of the Light open in select theaters and on demand December 5, 2014.
The post Nicolas Cage Stars in Paul Schrader’s ‘Dying of the Light’ also appeared on PCM Reviews.