Following the premiere of his new indie film “The Last Photograph” at the Toronto Film Festival to scathing reviews, filmmaker Zack Snyder has now given an interview with Variety where he’s touched upon a number of topics.
Speaking about the backlash to the film, he says much of the backlash has nothing to do with the film and is about him personally:
“It’s more clickable to say, ‘I hate Zack Snyder! He’s a fascist!’ than it is to say, ‘I saw the movie and it was cool.’ Nobody gives a fuck about that. And obviously, I’m not a fascist.”
He then went on to explain that when “300” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, the “exact same thing happened. There was immediate discourse around the movie, and everyone booed and walked out.”
Then came the press conference where he was first asked “Are you a fascist filmmaker?” and then:
“The hallmark question was when one of the guys said, ‘Are you pro-gay or pro-NRA? Which are you?’ And I said, ‘Look, I’ll be honest: I’m a tiny bit of both.’ But obviously I’m pro-gay. I made the gayest movie ever made. ‘300’ is one of the gayest movies ever made. I always go, ‘Look, there are few movies where people come in straight and come out gay, and ‘300’ is one of them.'”
That assessment comes as a surprise as the film has been repeatedly criticised for its homophobia, xenophobia and more in the past. Despite its problematic tendencies, the film was a hit and made $468.8 million from a $65 million budget while also earning itself the sequel/prequel “300: Rise of an Empire”.
