De Palma (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

De Palma (2015) – N. Baumbach & J. Paltrow

Brian De Palma didn’t make himself available for Kent Jones’ excellent Hitchcock/Truffaut (2016) because he wanted to reserve his comments about Hitch for this film (about himself).  For the record, he feels that he is the only true and legitimate heir to the master.  He also felt that Hitchcock (and indeed no other director) made any good films outside of their thirties, forties, and fifties.  Such bold (and bullshit, think of Bunuel) statements make this documentary interesting – it is entirely De Palma talking about his movies, interspersed with relevant clips.  Not unlike the Hitchcock/Truffaut book, we get extended treatment of some films (Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables) and only passing references to others (flops and more recent films).  Directors Noah Baumbach & Jake Paltrow extract the choicest of trivia/gossip/insights about the films which probably means that those who haven’t seen them won’t quite grasp everything.  Nevertheless, De Palma’s thoughts about film as an artform and as a business are engrossing, even if you start to wonder how reliable he is as an interviewee.  The absence of any counterpoint is noticeable – after all, he makes a few references to being attacked because his films often include violence toward women but then neglects to introspect about his decisions or to even defend himself.  He is essentially let off the hook.  And unfortunately, De Palma’s oeuvre is not one that always rewards critical scrutiny – there are some bad commercial choices in there.  It would be fun to have such intimate access (as Truffaut did with Hitchcock) to a better director.  Still, it’s fun for the film buff.