A portrait of an iconic movie director and the recovery of an autistic child provide the subject matter for two excellent documentary films just released.
De Palma Directors: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow
Life, AnimatedDirector: Roger Ross Williams
A fascinating and by no means entirely hagiographic week of recording the master filmmaker — he wore the same shirt throughout shooting, for continuity’s sake — of the some-say misogynistic but suspense-drenched filmmaker.
Speaking directly to the camera, the genial, occasionally self-mocking De Palma discusses his methodology, why he chooses certain tracking angles, why specific actors are caught from various heights and distances, and in general gives a chewy, nutritious take on his trademark process, a privileged behind-the-scenes look at an avatar of a certain generation of great lensers, up there with Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg ,and our other faves.
De P delights in talking about the young De Niro and Pacino, whom he discovered in his own early filmmaking and school. De Palma unabashedly honors Hitchcock in camera setups, plotting, framing, suspense sequences and so forth. Provocative, tantalizing excerpts of his many iconic and still virulent films include Sisters, Obsession, loosely inspired by Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Dressed to Kill, and the taut G-man drama, Untouchables, high-school nightmare Carrie, nose-candy Scarface, and illegal eagle skeeves, Carlito’s Way.
There is much adult content, violence and sudden gore, which cut into the overall enjoyment, as did scenes involving women not being treated all that chivalrously. De Palma’s recollections and powerful opinions about his film, and others’ filmmaking, are worth the discomfort. No one is forcing anyone to see those films that handle women as props for bloodletting and screams.
As a doc, it ranks up there with the recent “Brando on Brando” — almost must-viewing for aficionados of the genre.