Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

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Never Cursed
Such is life on board the Redoutable
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am

Re: Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

#26 Post by Never Cursed » Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:52 am

Not that I think anyone here cares still, but I recently found what appears to be an older draft of the script for this credited to Eric Warren Singer, co-writer of American Hustle, who adapted the film with the expectation that David Fincher would direct and Rooney Mara would play the Jennifer Lawrence role. It is starkly different from Justin Haythe's version that would eventually become this film, basically only sharing character names and the vague idea of a Russian honeypot spy. Notably, the Singer draft of the script lacks all the scenes of sexual coercion, debasement, and assault that would become the bread and butter of the Haythe/Lawrence film; Singer's version of the film is something that one could actually call a "spy thriller" rather than the spy-themed rapesploitation film that Haythe wrote. On top of that, Singer takes great pains to directly and viciously criticize a sort of boy's club culture among many of the American spies, giving the film a mildly interesting feminist bent, which is certainly not something one can say about the Haythe script.

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Bumstead
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:25 pm
Location: Dubai

Re: Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

#27 Post by Bumstead » Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:50 pm

Appreciate the share, Never Cursed.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Red Sparrow (Francis Lawrence, 2018)

#28 Post by zedz » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:31 pm

This recent bump got me to read this thread and shudder at how awful the film sounds.

But for people like Never Cursed, who thought there might be a germ of an interesting idea in exploring the sexual aspects of espionage, let me recommend The Americans, where this is a big factor of the series that isn't taken lightly, and becomes more resonant and complicated as the story unfolds over several years.

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