De Palma (2016)

Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

One of my all time favorites.

A Masterpiece!

Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow co-produced and co-directed this sit-down interview with filmmaker Brian De Palma, using clips of the movies he has been inspired by and key sequences of De Palma's own pictures to illustrate his colorful, amusing, often fascinating stories of film technique, on-set difficulties and, the always dicey, hindsight regrets: what-worked-and-what-didn't. Raised in Philadelphia, the youngest of three boys born to an absentee surgeon father, De Palma was a science nerd at Columbia University before enrolling in the Sarah Lawrence College drama department, where he honed his technique, began shooting short films, and eventually made his first full-length feature, "The Wedding Party" featuring a young Robert De Niro (with whom De Palma would work again with several times). Universal paid for De Palma's tuition and put him into their New Talent program, but never used any of his submissions, so De Palma went rogue and filmed "Greetings" in New York City, followed by "Hi, Mom!" which won him a modicum of success and a repertoire of actor friends. This is only the beginning for the De Palma that soon followed, the movie auteur who became close pals with Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola and Scorsese, the mastermind behind smooth, erotic thrillers such as "Dressed to Kill", violent crime epics such as "Scarface" and "The Untouchables" and the big-budget action-adventure "Mission: Impossible", De Palma's first blockbuster. Not especially a raconteur, De Palma nevertheless looks back at his cinematic output with bemusement, telling wonderful stories of working with De Niro, Sean Connery, John Cassavetes, Cliff Robertson, composer Bernard Herrmann, Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox. He doesn't go in for gossip (very little about his two marriages), nor does he linger on the criticisms he's received over his Hitchcock allusions. However, any young filmmaker or movie buff will be intrigued by the constant struggles he's had to see his vision through, about standing up to producers and studio heads and writers who all want his film to reflect their views. It's a tantalizing 110 minutes. ***1/2 from ****

In this film, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow interview one of Hollywood's most polarizing directors in Brian De Palma. De Palma has been praised for his innovative camera techniques and his suspenseful stories but has been criticised for misogyny in his films as well as seemingly ripping of many "Hitchcockian" traits. I am familiar with De Palma's work, although I haven't seen too many of his films apart from his most well known ones (Scarface, Untouchables, Carlito's Way etc.) but this documentary certainly wants me to explore more of his movies. The film is mainly just one shot of De Palma talking to the camera intercut with scenes from many of his movies. He goes into extreme detail about every single one of his movies, whilst occasionally talking about aspects of his personal life.De Palma is a very interesting character. He's eccentric and funny but also can be arrogant sometimes. However, as a director he is a great storyteller and talks about most of his movies in extremely intricate and interesting detail e.g. how he performed certain shots to how he dealt with many of the different egos on his set. If you're someone who isn't particularly interested in film, you'll probably not find too much enjoyment in this documentary. It really is a documentary for cinephiles (such as myself) or at least people who have some interest in the art of film making. I do sometimes wish the documentary would perhaps tap into more aspects of De Palma's personal life such as his childhood or his relationship with his peers (Scorsese, Spielberg etc.). There are moments when De Palma talks about his childhood and refers to incidents that impacted his voyeuristic style but I wish the movie tapped into more moments like these. One other criticism I also have is perhaps De Palma does tend to talk about certain movies more than other ones. I would've liked for him to go into more detail about some of his more notable failures like Mission to Mars and Passion but De Palma generally just skips over these particular films. However, if you're a movie fan or Brian De Palma fan( hell, even a detractor) you'll find great enjoyment out of this fascinating documentary about one of Hollywood's most prolific directors.

Greetings from Lithuania."De Palma" (2015) is a very simple documentary about legendary director Brian De Palma. There aren't any interviews beside of Brian De Palma himself - for the whole movie he speaks about himself, his carrier and his movies. I was highly involved into listening things about his films, how they were made, all the nuances and etc. So those who saw every or many movies from this director and did like them - "De Palma" is for them - this is a true gem for movie buffs.Overall, "De Palma" is a very involving and simple documentary. It simply shows you images and scenes from movies you have probably seen and many times (like i did), and listen to director speaking about these movies. Personally i loved many movies from this director, especially "Carlito's Way" and "Scarface" - two great movies. "De Palma" is a pure movie heaven for those who loves movies.

Greetings again from the darkness. A self-inflicted career retrospective … that's my most fitting description of this project from co-directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow. Rather than line-up a slew of third-party observers and collaborators, we get the famed director himself walking us film-by-film through his resume. That's right, Brian De Palma discusses the De Palma film canon … and we movie lovers couldn't ask for anything better.Beginning with a clip of Vertigo, the doc leads with the Hitchcock influence, almost as a form of disclosure. It's as if everyone associated is saying, Yes we admit it … Director De Palma has been heavily influenced and inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock. Now pay attention to what he's done with his career – some really good, some not so good, some downright awful. "Underappreciated" might be the best label for De Palma. He was part of the "New Hollywood" with Spielberg, Scorcese, Coppola, and Lucas, yet they are worshiped, while De Palma is mostly ignored.Mr. De Palma speaks directly to the camera and seems to thoroughly enjoy this opportunity to analyze (and at times defend) his career, providing a self guided reflective approach - a chronological retrospective that doesn't shy away from his inability to put together a streak of successful films. This is direct talk (describing a particular bomb as "one of many disasters") with no apologies from a filmmaker who has worked for five decades. He tells behind the scenes stories in a matter-of-fact manner, not always complimentary of himself, actors or the industry.The stories and recollections are the highlight here. De Palma speaks highly of Wilford Leach (his mentor and professor at Sarah Lawrence), composer Bernard Hermann and Robert DeNiro, with less than flattering tales of Cliff Robertson (Obsession), Sean Penn (Casualties of War), and Oliver Stone (Scarface). It's fascinating to hear De Palma explain the box office failure of his version of The Bonfire of the Vanities, address the scandal of Body Double, and describe in detail the simultaneous casting (with Spielberg) of Star Wars and Carrie. Even more eye-opening is his reminiscing on the back-and-forth with director Sidney Lumet as they played hot-potato with Scarface and Prince of the City.Brian De Palma was Columbia University educated (math and physics), and has directed some of the most creative, colorful and controversial films – some of which never received their "due". This may be mostly a film for those who want more inside-industry scoop, but it's a man who takes pride in the fact that famed film critic Pauline Kael was a fan of his work, and that few directors have a more varied canon of film.His patented "holy mackerel" is on full display as he takes us on the journey of De Palma films, and it's a reminder that "talking head" documentaries can still work … provided the talking head doing the talking is saying something worth listening to.