Slightly Less Mutilated Storytelling DVD

Contractually obligated to give Fine Line Features an R-rated picture, Todd Solondz has had to censor (in addition to the whole James Van Der Beek sequence) an explicit sex scene with Selma Blair and Robert Wisdom from his latest film.
Well, according to a recently published article in IndieWIRE, Solondz claims the scene will be included, un-censored, in foreign prints and the upcoming DVD, adding, "I knew that the U.S. would be the only place - except for Iran and Iraq - that I would have this problem... It's not just the MPAA; the studios are complicit and the whole country has issues that you don't have to deal with abroad."
The same article also mentions that the MPAA also censored one of the trailers Solondz wanted for the film, which explains why the big red box which covers the aforementioned Blair/ Wisdom scene is there. "The MPAA didn't approve it," Solondz said, "because it suggested they would be censors. While, strictly speaking, it's unfair to say that the red box is censorship, this is one irrefutable example of censorship in the trailer: they're not letting us state the facts about why there's a big red box in the movie."
Well, it's good news, at least, that the one scene will find its way onto the DVD uncensored, and, hey - maybe we could even get Solondz' proposed trailer on there, too, but as far as the shorn Van Der Beek/ Matarazzo subplot, it still looks like we may never see a non-butchered Storytelling. "I wish that I didn't have these obstacles," Solondz said. "On the other hand, perhaps on some unconscious level, that's what spurs me on."

Storytelling Preview in Premiere:

"It's two stories in one. And it's not exactly clear how they relate to each other. "They resonate," says producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don't Cry). In the first, "Fiction" (which was edited down so heavily that a story line featuring a sexually confused James Van Der Beek disappeared), a college student (Blair) leaves her handicapped boyfriend (Leo Pitzpatrick) to seduce her African-American writing professor; in "Nonfiction," a documentary filmmaker (Giamatti) reveals how clueless his teen subject (Webber) is, all under the suspicious gaze of his parents (Goodman and Julie Haggerty). "I've never dealt with race as an issue before," says Solondz (Happiness). "I know I'm playing with fire. There's a certain thrill there. I know people will be offended by it." Happiness, which dealt with pedophilia and masturbation, was released unrated, but Fine LIne wants to open Storytelling with an R. So Solondz has placed a red box over strategic body parts during the scene in which the professor thrusts against the student while forcing her to yell the N-word.
Eyes Wide Open: The cover-up is "the oppposite" pf what Stanley Kubrick did in the orgy scene of Eyes Wide Shut, Solondz says. "I want the audience to know [that what we're hiding] can't be digitally removed. That this is so censored." - Premiere 9/01

Storytelling's Untold Story:

Ok. As I understand it, now, Solondz original cut of Storytelling was about two and a half hours, rated NC-17, and featured three stories! Apparently, the producers wanted the film cut for both a shorter running time and an R rating. According to Dark Horizons, the shorn segment starred James van der Beek as "a closeted high school jock who becomes involved in a very explicit gay sex scene," along with Heather Matarazzo and Emanuelle Chriqui (Detroit Rock City, A.I. Artificial Intelligence). That's right, Matarazzo is out of the picture, too! Hopefully (my fingers are crossed, but I'm not holding my breath), the disappointing reception at Cannes (see below) might help convince the film's producers to do right and restore the third segment for Storytelling's official release. ...More relasitically, maybe we can just keep our fingers crossed for an inclusive DVD?

Storytelling Soundtrack Information:

According to their official site, Belle and Sebastian recorded the music for the second half of Storytelling, with the first part of the film being scored by Shudder To Think's Nathan Larsson, who also composed the music for Boys Don't Cry and High Art. They expect the film to be released in October, with the soundtrack album coming out through Jeepster and Matador Records around the same time.