Icelandic film editor and director Valdís Óskarsdóttir, best known for editing Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, was assigned to re-edit the Belgian feature film Mr. Nobody, starring Jared Leto, which is scheduled to premiere on May 11.

 

“They contacted me and asked if I could work with them for the last bit of the project,” Óskarsdóttir told Morgunbladid. “They sent me the movie in advance and I watched it. The first hour was totally brilliant, but then there was another one and a half hour that was a bit confusing.”

Mr. Nobody is directed by Jaco Van Dormael. It takes place in 2092 and tells the story of the last mortal man on earth. The production cost of the movie amounted to USD 58 million (EUR 45 million).

“I agreed and traveled to Belgium in November. Then the time I had left to re-edit the movie was down to one week,” Óskarsdóttir described. “I knew immediately what I wanted to do. It is a very complicated movie and similar to Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind in the sense that it goes back and forth in time.”

Óskarsdóttir explained that she had re-edited the movie in a few days, cut it by 20 minutes, simplified it, relocated scenes and changed the ending, but she doesn’t know whether her version will be the final version; eight film editors were involved.

In addition to Leto, Rhys Ifans and Diane Kruger play in Mr. Nobody and, according to Óskarsdóttir, they all do a great job. “Jared Leto, for example, is excellent. He plays both a very young person and a 120-year old man.”

Óskarsdóttir recently directed her first movie, Country Wedding.