By turns a concert film and a biographal portrait, I’m Your Man attempts to capture the elusive essence of poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s music is represented by various artists performing at a tribute organized by the innovative producer Hal Wilner, while the Canadian wordsmith slips in and out of the narrative as a talking head, discussing the vagaries of his
Biography - Page 5
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
The Nazi Officer’s Wife
Filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA) documents the extraordinary story of Edith Hahn in The Nazi Officer’s Wife. Using old newsreel footage, personal photos, and interviews with Hahn, her daughter Angela, and various acquaintances, with narration by Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond (who reads excerpts from Hahn’s autobiography), the film explores how
Grey Gardens
Albert and David Maysles, pioneers in the cinéma vérité movement of documentary filmmaking, chose for their subjects of this film a mother and daughter with celebrity connections. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie (or, as they are called by the brothers, Big Edie and Little Edie) are aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In the early ’70s, their 28
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
In this exquisite concert film directed by Jonathan Demme, Neil Young expresses modest hopes for his two-night stint at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium, the home of the original Grand Ole Opry. He states he wants to play well, share the stage with my friends, and let the muse have us. He succeeds magnificently, as does Demme, who keeps the music and
Ernest Hemingway: Wrestling with Life
This biography of the American writer Ernest Hemingway is aptly titled, since Hemingway was forever struggling with life. A mixture of outdoorsman and intellectual, Hemingway has become emblematic of a certain way of life in the 20th century. His personal style and his many written works have become intertwined in the public imagination. In this A&E portrait, both
Imagine: John Lennon – The Definitive Film Portrait
The personal film archives of Yoko Ono were utilized for this feature-length documentary on the life of John Lennon. Predictably, it downplays Lennon’s association with the Beatles and concentrates on his years with Ono. The film spends a lot of time recounting Lennon’s anti-war activities, highlighted by a confrontation on a talk show hosted by conservative cartoonist
Tupac: Resurrection
Many unauthorized video titles have been released about the life of rap superstar Tupac Shakur. Tupac: Resurrection is the only one to be both executive produced by his mother, former Black Panther Afeni Shakur, and benefit from access to the MTV archives. The documentary is the feature-length debut for director Lauren Lazin, who has created several highly rated
The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock
A look at Alfred Hitchcock’s films. The Master of Suspense himself, who is interviewed extensively here, shares stories including his deep-seated fear of policemen, elaborates on the difference between shock and suspense, defines the meaning of MacGuffin, and discusses his use of storyboarding in designing a film. Clips from many of his greatest films
Mahatma: Life of Gandhi, 1869-1948
All events and principles of Gandhi’s life and thoughts are viewed in this film as integrated parts of his truth-intoxicated life depicting permanent and universal values. The purpose of the film is to tell the present and the future generations ‘that such a man as Gandhi in flesh and blood walked upon this earth’, and to spread his message of peace and universal
After Mein Kampf
In this shallow combination of documentary and fiction, shocking footage of concentration camp survivors, dead bodies, Hitler’s rantings, German soldiers enthusiastically singing patriotic songs, and similar scenes of World War II are mixed with enacted film clips, such as a German soldier raping a woman — or worse. Even before the director asks the clearly