Zack Snyder: “I’m not a fascist!”

Manhandled online after the screening of The Last Photograph in Toronto this week, the filmmaker regrets that these attacks go beyond simple criticism and recalls, with a certain irony, what had already happened around 300.

Zack Snyder is no stranger to online criticism.

But his last feature film, The Last Photographa jungle thriller and long-term project shot in Colombia in 32 days, is being slammed by American critics this week. Presented at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film is attacked from all sides. So Snyder gave a long interview to Variety, in which he talks about how he experiences being divisive today… and explains that his news feed has become the scene of a funny conversation:

“We are all humanhe admits. I guess in my feed, and this is just what my algorithm shows me, it’s become a conversation. At first it was: ‘Zack Snyder sucks!’, ‘Fuck you!’, ‘Dirty fascist!’ And now it’s more like, ‘You guys are completely crazy. It’s just a movie. Calm down.”

For Snyder, these reactions are largely linked to the image that certain spectators have of him. And he is certain of it: critics are targeting him without even having seen the film. Prejudices “to 100% conditioned by pre-existing feelings“.

The director regrets these messages from those who shoot down his work on principle: “Whether you like the movie or not, I don’t even argue with that. But the thing is, with me, it sells more to say: ‘I hate Zack Snyder! He’s a fascist!’ than saying, ‘I saw the movie and it was cool.’ Nobody gives a damn about that.” Before adding, very simply: “And obviously, I’m not a fascist!“

Attacks that remind Zack Snyder of the first screening of 300 two decades ago.

When the feature film was presented at the Berlin Film Festival, the director remembers a particularly stormy reception. “Everyone whistled and left the room. It was the first time we showed the film and we were like, ‘What the hell is going on?'” The film was then described as “disaster”of “worst film ever made” and even film “fascist”.

During the press conference that followed, Snyder was even asked directly about this question: was he a fascist filmmaker?

Years later, the director still finds himself faced with questions about his personal opinions:

“Are you pro-gay or pro-NRA? That’s it in summary, I’m asked if I’m one or the other… But I’ll be honest: I’m a little bit of both. ButObviously I’m pro-gay. I made the gayest movie ever!”

A reference to 300his ultra-stylized peplum featuring the Spartan warriors of Leonidas: “300 is one of the gayest films ever made. I always say: there are some films where people come in straight and come out gay, and 300 is part of it…“

A very Snyder way of responding to those who seek to label him.

The Last Photograph does not yet have a release date in France.