Great Directors
by Warren Curry
7/7/10
I can’t imagine that any fan of, say, half of the ten filmmakers profiled in the bluntly titled documentary “Great Directors” won’t derive some level of enjoyment from it. Angela Ismailos needs a healthy amount of seasoning before she can join the ranks of her subjects, though her passion for the documentary’s participants is unquestionable. That passion has obvious benefits, but her fawning interview style and an inclination to insert herself excessively into the film leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, the topic itself pretty much guarantees success.
Ismailos’ approach is markedly more personal than academic, and a more fitting title for this documentary would be “My Favorite Directors.” Her taste, at least for this writer, is hard to argue and it’s a treat to see clips from so many exceptional films tied together in the same work. The subjects appear to feel at ease speaking to Ismailos, opening up about their influences, successes, failures and feelings about the film industry. “When you finally find success, you fear losing it,” notes controversial French director Catherine Breillat, a sentiment I suspect the independent filmmaking community at large shares.
The film follows a loose narrative path, as pieces of the interviews are assembled in a very general order. Ismailos allows some of her subjects to go on tangents (Todd Haynes expounding on his love of Jean Genet and Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and doesn’t always provide the clearest context for their comments (Richard Linklater discussing the disappointing box office performance of “The Newton Boys”). Two filmmakers who seem to get short shrift in terms of screen time are Liliana Cavani and John Sayles, which is disappointing because the latter always offers unique observations on the industry.
Yet with the film clips and the interviews at her disposal, Ismailos makes just about every frame of her documentary engaging. We hear Bernardo Bertolluci reminisce about the beginnings of his friendship with mentor Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ken Loach and Stephen Frears talk about their move away from the BBC when Margaret Thatcher came to power in England and David Lynch (whose voice kind of sounds like an androgynous William Burroughs) explain how Mel Brooks’ love of “Eraserhead” (who knew?) played an instrumental role in landing him the directing job on “The Elephant Man.”
Aside from narrating the film, Ismailos also includes several reaction shots of herself during the interviews. I assume this decision was made to ostensibly give the film an intimate atmosphere, but the technique mostly backfires. It seems Ismailos occasionally loses sight of the concept that the “great directors,” and their work, should always be the focus of her documentary. At worst, it comes across like the director is seeking recognition for being an admirer of these filmmakers.
What Ismailos’ documentary generously conveys, however, is a love of the cinematic art form, celebrating a group of filmmakers who, generally speaking, are appreciated by a fairly small segment of moviegoers. Some more questions about their working methods would’ve been welcome (like how Ken Loach consistently gets great performances from inexperienced actors), but going so in depth may have turned this feature length film into a miniseries. That said, I don’t feel it would be at all accurate to call this documentary’s overview of its subjects superficial.
There may be some irony in the fact that a documentary about a bunch of arthouse filmmakers is so accessible, but it’s a trait that serves the film quite well. And as an added bonus, you’ll receive enough movie recommendations to keep your Netflix queue filled for months. How’s that for value?
contact: wcurry718@yahoo.com
Great Directors (USA/2009)
Director: Angela Ismailos
Featuring: Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, Liliana Cavani, Stephen Frears, Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, David Lynch, Ken Loach, John Sayles, Agnes Varda
Not Rated, 86 minutes
(Anisma Films & Paladin; opens in Los Angeles July 9, 2010; opened in New York City July 2, 2010)