There are many ways a director can tell his story through the documentary format. In the case of the Brian De Palma documentary De Palma, the less is more approach is taken to navigate us through the famed directors legendary career. What comes out of it is a simple but highly enjoyable film experience, running at a brisk runtime of 100 minutes
Directed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, the duo are almost completely hands off, letting the camera roll as De Palma reminisces about his career as if he were talking to you in a conversation. The documentary dives deep into his historic career as a prolific filmmaker, starting at the very beginning of his career, and touching upon all his films in chronological order, giving us a complete run of the mill of his expansive filmography.
The only person who appears on screen is De Palma himself. They’re asking the questions about his films, but we’re only hearing his answers. This is his show.
As De Palma reflects on beloved works such as Carrie, Blow Out, Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way, he dives into stories that vary from fighting with studio executives about the budget, casting decisions, the films initial reception, as well as it’s current standing today. He is completely candid and his stories are as off the cuff as you can find. There’s something refreshing about how De Palma’s honesty to us. He is confident in his good work, but also real enough to notice when he took a wrong turn or two.
Even if you know the stories, such as how De Palma was a part of the New Hollywood movement, buddies with the likes of Spielberg, Coppola, Lucas, and Scorsese. But hearing it in this format, straight from De Palma’s mouth, it’s like hearing them all over again for the first time. Even when he’s discussing the films of his that you don’t care for, there’s still something to appreciate as a movie fan.
You don’t necessarily need to be a diehard De Palma fan or historian to appreciate what Baumbach and Paltrow captured on camera with their documentary, although it certainly would enhance the experience. If anything, it made me excited to revisit some of his favorites, catch up on the ones that I still have yet to see, and made me reevaluate previous notions about him as a filmmaker, and the works themselves.
Considering it made De Palma seem both larger than life and very much human, I’d say Baumbach and Paltrow achieved something quite memorable here.
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