Dark City S.E. (Some Spoilers)
As soon as I saw the interview with Alex Proyas on AICN I went out looking for this. I was a huge fan of the original film (I must have been one of the few people that actually saw it in theaters). As soon as I saw the trailer I was so psyched.
Now that I've had a chance to watch the special edition I wanted to comment on it:
1) I had a sinking feeling that the opening narration had been tacked on later to help the audience 'understand' the film. Shades of Blade Runner. The opening is vastly improved without it although I love Keifer's Sutherland's gasping tribute to Peter Lorre.
2) A lot of added scenes were simple, like Bumstead getting up to answer the phone before the scene cuts to the hotel. Or John Murdoch opening a phone booth door and a sleeping woman falls out.
3) Others explain previously inexpliable character actions. Now I understand why near the end Schreber runs away from the car holding his head in pain. The original cut eliminated the explanation.
4) A lot of added scenes includes the spiral motif that runs throughout the film: fingerprints and swirling cream. This makes it the most spiral-obsessed movie with the exception of Uzumaki.
5) The nightclub orchestrations sound different (electric guitar maybe). And is Jennifer Connelly doing her own singing now?
6) I like the added character beats, especially between the Strangers. Apparently they can't talk about one of their late lamented fellows without adding 'Poor, poor' in front of their name.
7) The most interesting new documentary mentions that Daniel Paul Schreber was a real person, a respected German judge who developed schitzophrenia and wrote a book about it: Memoirs of My Nervous Illness. I can tell they based the interaction between Mr. Book and Schreber on the real Schreber's demanding unforgiving father, who thought that strapping down children would help them sit upright. Just look at the scenes where Mr. Book admonishes Schreber like he is a small child.
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