Zack Snyder responds to people calling him a “fascist” over controversial new film ‘The Last Photograph’

Zack Snyder has addressed accusations of being a “fascist” that have come from the reactions to his new film, The Last Photograph.

The Man Of Steel director premiered his latest work in Toronto on Sunday (September 13), a revenge thriller about an ex-DEA agent searching for his missing niece and nephew in South America. The film has been critically panned, currently standing at a 21 per cent “rotten” score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking to Variety, Snyder had revealed he has read many critical or abusive messages on social media regarding his new film, and questioned their accuracy given the movie has only had one public screening.

“There were only 1,200 people in the theater and there are thousands of comments!” he argued. “Whether you like the movie or not, I’m not even commenting on that; but with me, it’s more clickable to say, ‘I hate Zack Snyder! He’s a fascist!’ than it is to say, ‘I saw the movie and it was cool.’ Nobody gives a fuck about that. And obviously, I’m not a fascist.”

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He then said that he received a similar reaction to his hit film 300 when it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. “There was immediate discourse around the movie, and everyone booed and walked out,” he said. “It was our first time showing the movie and we were like, ‘What the fuck.’ They were saying it was ‘a disaster,’ ‘the worst movie ever’ and a ‘fascist’ movie. Then we had a press conference where they were asking me all these questions, like, ‘Are you a fascist filmmaker?’”

Continuing the anecdote, he recalled: “The hallmark question was when one of the guys said, ‘Are you pro-gay or pro-NRA? Which are you?’ And I said, ‘Look, I’ll be honest: I’m a tiny bit of both.’ But obviously I’m pro-gay. I made the gayest movie ever made.” When asked to clarify that claim, he replied: “300 is one of the gayest movies ever made. I always go, ‘Look, there are few movies where people come in straight and come out gay, and 300 is one of them’.”

At the time of writing, The Last Photograph is yet to announce a release date.

Last year, Zack Snyder satirised his reputation for action-heavy storytelling by appearing on the cartoon Rick And Morty alongside James Gunn.