The story of how 2011′s Margaret was made and eventually released may make a more compelling tale than the theatrical version. The film was shot in 2005 (as evinced by the theater marquees), but then entered into a lengthy editing process to which director Kenneth Lonergan found it nearly impossible to get the film into manageable shape. He could have his cut up to 150 minutes, but reports have the film running as long as (and possibly over) four hours. In the process, two of the film’s producers (Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella) passed away, and film has been stamped with a 2008 copyright, and it now runs a choppy 149 minutes. In this version it’s a mess, but a fascinating one. Perhaps if the longer cut emerges we’ll know for sure if it just needed to be long, or if the film got away from Lonergan in a classic example of a “sophomore slump.”

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Matt Damon and Anna Paquin are as hot as they’ve ever been, and Mark Ruffalo (now an Avenger) is coming close to being a full blown star. So what’s so fascinating about Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret is that the film has been mired in controversy for six years. They finished shooting in 2005. Supposedly the hold up was that Lonergran had final cut but he couldn’t get it down to a manageable shape (it was declared a masterpiece by Martin Scorsese in one of those longer cuts), which led to two lengthy lawsuits. During this prolonged post-production two of its producers (Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack) have passed away. And now, finally, there’s a trailer. Check it out….

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