Uwe Boll responds to slagging match over ´Postal´

There has been a slagging match going on between German movie director Uwe Boll (´House of the Dead´, ´Bloodrayne´, ´Alone in the Dark´) and Chris Kohler from Wired´s Game|Life.

In his review of Boll´s latest movie, ´Postal´, Kohler called the German a "bad movie director" and went on to transcribe a few of the gags, adding:

If this all sounds funny, it is because I am a pretty funny writer. The jokes, as seen in Postal all fall flat. I don't think it's the fault of the talented actors that Boll enlisted -- it's just all done with the same unavoidably ham-handed crafting that Baker so elegantly describes in his feature ("haphazardly scripted, sloppily edited, badly acted and, most crucially, brutally received"). (...)

I'm kind of sad I saw this for work, because maybe it would be awesome if I was blind drunk.

In return, Boll sent Kohler an E-Mail, which states:

your review shows me only that you dont understand anything about movies and that you are a untalented wanna bee filmmaker with no balls and no understanding what POSTAL is. you dont see courage because you are nothing. and no go to your mum and fuck her ...because she cooks for you now since 30 years ..so she deserves it.

Well, I had the chance to interview Uwe Boll (who I found to be a kind and surprisingly low-key person) for my television station RTL II the day before yesterday and I asked him about his reaction. Watch the video in German or read the English translation below.

RTL II: Since you are aware of the fact that the movie is rather provocative, why are you disciplining your critics with such harsh language? Your reply to the Wired review got quite famous on the internet. I think it was Game|Life´s Chris Kohler?

Uwe Boll: That was an unusual situation. The film was showing in San Francisco, at the San Francisco festival. It was well received: 300 people, deafening applause. And Chris Kohler came up to me afterwards and congratulated me on a great movie. He then interviewed me and wrote a review in which he ripped the movie to bits, as personally insulting as it gets.

Then I lost it and I sent him that mail, which he decided to make public. Normally, I can deal with criticism. I can deal with negative feedback. But people have to put their money where their mouth is and not tell me they think the movie is great, suck up to me and then write a scathing review. That is what I resent and that is why I reacted in that way.

Kohler and Boll have been exchanging mails since then. Funnily, Kohler writes in his first reply that they "didn't get to meet at the Postal premiere", which seems to contradict what Boll was saying.

At any rate, I share some of Kohler´s criticism about the film losing momentum and direction after an hour or so. It is also quite gratuitious in parts and deliberately so. But, to be fair, ´Postal´ also contains a number of funny scenes alongside the cockpit one. So I guess it is worth watching, after all. The slagging match is more entertaining, though.

EDIT Chris Kohler linked to my clip and told me: "No, I didn't talk to Boll at the premiere. A friend of mine did introduce us while I was standing far away, and I waved and smiled." So Uwe Boll must have gotten something confused. Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding on his part.

EDIT Uwe Boll has just sent out an article entitled Why I produced & directed ‘POSTAL’. Here it is in its entirety:

After the September 11th. attacks, our world went through some dramatic changes. We have wars and terror in Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and various states in Africa. The USA & Europe are scared to loose the leadership of the planet to China & India. Moslem fanatics & fundamentalists are gaining enough power to destroy our security and freedom.

The American & European people are heavily swayed by the mass media that is supporting the USA strategy of resolving these threats through war. We have quickly developed an innate self-censorship in order to survive this crazed and fragile state of existence. People are now afraid to speak their mind for fear of repercussions.

The world is in need of a film that is tougher in it's humorous mockery of the globe than "SOUTH PARK". The audience is ready to approach this type of satire with live actors rather than cartoons. "POSTAL" will not accept any form of censorship.

Our present political situation is intolerable. We have deranged religious fanatics on one hand and lobbyists from the oil & weapon industries on the other hand. Both sides are actively working at destroying the planet. This world is slowly dying due to global warming & pollution caused by man’s corporate greed and stupidity. If intelligent people do not stop this madness, then our grandchildren will not experience life.

"POSTAL" will insult all cultures, religions, political groups and leaders. No one will be spared. The film is intended to provoke thought, laughter and open debate. Our world is out of balance and "POSTAL" will reflect just how fucked up we are.

I see myself as a member of the world community. I have no religious affiliation. Religion has often been a catalyst for the many crimes and wars throughout history. Religion allows people the opportunity to blame their actions on a higher source. We live in a world that is sensitive to people's religious beliefs. How ironic that non-religious groups fail to receive the same level of sensitivity from the establishment. I have nothing against religion and tolerate religious feelings - but religion should be part of the private lifes and driving political decisions.

Apart from the firemen and rescuers of 911, how about the victims of the September 11th. attacks that are now being labeled as heroes? I say that they were not heroes at all. They died in a terrorist attack. They were normal people and did nothing heroic; they died an unfortunate death.

Since September 11th, more than ONE MILLION AFRICANS, JEWS and ARABS have died in terrorist's attacks, civil wars and wars. Their lives and deaths were not featured by the mass media. Does this mean that their lives had less value than the life of a NY stockbroker dying in the World Trade Center?

It's time to wake up!

May "POSTAL" shock, stir, offend and entertain you !!!!! All theaters should play POSTAL - whoever is not showing POSTAL shows exactly what POSTAL is critizising: selfcensorship. The MPAA liked POSTAL and gave it an R RATING - there is no reason anymore not to make POSTAL available to everybody in all cities. The audience is tired of every week the same formular movies - and a movie like BORAT showed that people want from time to time something special: POSTAL.

Source: Game|Life, Game|Life
Thanks to: NeoGAF