Cathy Yan Fought to KeepBirds of Prey‘s Most Upsetting Scene

No , not the one with the ball sandwich . Though that was tragic . No ball sandwich should ever have to go through that .

blab out tothe Hollywood Reporter , Cathy Yangave a wide - ranging interview onBirds of Preyand what ’s come after , reflecting on the process making the moving-picture show and how she ’s feeling about it after waiver . In it , she refer to the film ’s arguably most upsetting view and excuse how she had to fight to keep it in the film , and why she thought it was worth it .

The view in question is the one in which Roman Sionis ( Ewan McGregor ) cruelly humiliates Erika , a cleaning woman in the guild played by Bojana Novakovic . It ’s a smutty , tearing fit , one that is bound to get uncomfortableness for a plenty of audience penis . According to Yan , the scene was necessary character work .

Ewan McGregor as Black Mask.

Ewan McGregor as Black Mask.Image: Warner Bros.

“ I ’ll be honest : we had to fight to keep that prospect because it was uncomfortable , ” she say . “ It was risky , and we had to fight to keep it at all . There are cutting of the movie without it . I ’m really happy that we kept it because I think it ’s important . I think that a lot of people have been very impacted by that picture . I believe it ’s a huge turn point for Roman ; it ’s a Brobdingnagian turning point for Canary , and the style that we shot it was hopefully not about the intimate violence upon the woman . It was more about Roman , what he ’s capable of and Canary see him for who he really is for the first clip . Now , she can fully cut herself off from him , and I thought it was a really authoritative vista . So , we fought for it . ”

Good News , Birds of Prey Is Now Releasing Digitally Next Week

It ’s an interesting thought about a scene that I ’ve seen equal part discomfort and praise . It ’s hard to describe any sort of intimate ravishment on motion-picture show in a way that feel empathic toward the victim without also feeling exploitive . It ’s the type of subject matter most superhero picture show would n’t even touch for fear of getting it untimely . I think Yan ’s principle is strong here , though whether that scene lands as intended is going to depend as much on your interview perspective as anything else . I deep look up to bird of Prey and Cathy Yan in particular for press for a type of film that the superhero musical style is never let to get .