Watching The Devils on Filmstruck in non-anamorphic widescreen makes me remember all the Star Wars fans who complained that one of the last DVD releases of the OT had the unaltered versions in non-anamorphic transfers. It makes me remember they're idiots.
No matter how you feel about the Special Editions, at least Star Wars has never been out of public circulation. It's always been easy to get on VHS, laserdisc, dvd, blu ray, and now streaming. And always in a version its creator is happy with, good or ill.
The Devils, by contrast, has never been widely released in its full, notorious directors' cut, and even censored and compromise versions are only rarely released, and usually in poor visual condition. And yet, absurdly, most of the scandalous footage cut is easy to find online.
There is really no earthly reason why it's impossible to see Ken Russell's film except on the rare occasions it receives an art-house screening, or finds its way to a streaming service like Shudder or Filmstruck for a very limited window. And no reason why it can't be restored.
This isn't a movie like Greed or The Magnificent Ambersons, where the footage lost to a butchered edit is very likely lost forever. We don't have to wait for a pristine copy to be found in a Swedish mental institute like Passion of Joan of Arc or scratchy 16mm like Metropolis.
As far as I can tell, all the footage needed to restore The Devils is out there. The Rape of Christ is up on vimeo for crying out loud, and restores the sequence to the truly sensitive, delicate devotion of true religious faith contrasted with medieval tabloid sensationalism
So as much as I'm liable to bitch and whine about Filmstruck putting up a compromised version of The Devils, I can at least understand the import of putting this movie out AT ALL. And I can hold out the sincere hope that it will help Warner Bros. release the whole thing entirely.
But, if nothing else, it provides as good a contrast between the real injustices of film preservation in the face of corporate censorship, and the type that idiotic Star Wars fanboys whine about.
