Alan Taylor, on the “radical recutting” Rolin did on his cut of the 3x07 finale:
“In my version, it was a single long close up of Assad, just slowly going in on him, and it was during that performance that I thought, my gosh, this guy is one of the greatest actors I have ever witnessed”
i can appreciate serving the vision and the artistic merit behind the fever dream cut which at once conveys the fragmentation of their states while uniting them through that very brokenness. louis story is lestats story is daniels story is armands, and by their visual interweaving lestats pivotal trauma of the witches is blended with the butcher-shop allowing that moment to wordlessly connect and color louis and armand’s lives to lestat (those who are Othered- the sensitive philosophical bisexual lover, the south asian prostitute in venice, the breadwinner gay black man in new orleans, the queer boy during the AIDS epidemic- are sinful. Their punishment is righteous. And staying in places which hate you for longer than you ever shouldve- lestat not leaving until he was 30, armands extended stay with marius, louis attachment to nola, loumand’s 77 years- because yes you are not alive here but its home; its dubai, its auvergne, its artifice on the outskirts of life. This pain of mine is really a chord we share)
that said. as soon as i finished my first watch I made a “butcher-shop cut” and “lestat long table cut” so i could watch the fucking story and sit with it. rolin jones always whining about scenes getting too boring but how are u gonna critique shallow engagement (beta boy armand lick lick lick; beach read on fire island) while seemingly making the show for that audience with how u format events like the viewers going to die if theyre not whacked with a new loud sound and bright picture every 5 seconds
