De Palma

Directors: Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow

Director Brian De Palma is the subject of directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's new documentary De Palma, which chronicles his early years and a career that spans five decades. Baumbach and Paltrow's film isn't a hagiography but a fascinating, in-depth examination of a director's life and body of work; told not by industry talking heads but by De Palma himself. De Palma's up and down career; his successes and failures, are discussed in detail. Isn't often we have a notable director discuss his own work; sharing fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes and invaluable insights into his creative process.

We learn something of De Palma's childhood in New Jersey. One of three boys, De Palma recalls his physician father being emotionally-detached from his family while his mother was anything but. Unlike most directors, De Palma didn't show any precocious, cinematic leanings and never considered a life in film; instead he excelled in science and math at Protestant and Quaker schools he attended in his youth. He mentions how he actually won a science fair prize for a project on differential equations.

De Palma talks about his time at Columbia University, where his academic pursuits included a degree in physics. His nascent passion for film was stimulated attending film series, where the fare consisted of Welles, Hitchcock, Antonioni and other masters of the medium. De Palma's post-graduate studies carried him to Sarah Lawrence, where his love for film led to early forays in movie-making. Among those cast in his early films was then unknown actor named Robert De Niro. Making films in the 60s' brought De Palma into the orbit of Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese; peers who became friends.

It is particularly interesting listening to De Palma talk about his early films; how his projects were independent endeavors that didn't garner much attention but provided invaluable experience. Undaunted by box-office failure, he forged ahead and was able to land a job behind the camera for the now classic horror film Carrie; his commercial breakthrough. De Palma discusses the making of the film, particularly its casting. Having settled on an actress to play Carrie, Sissy Spacek made an 11th hour plea for the part. Figuring it couldn't hurt to have her audition, De Palma agreed though his mind and heart were fixed on the incumbent. Spacek thoroughly convinced him she was the better choice. The film's unexpected success enabled De Palma more freedom and bigger budgets for subsequent projects, including The Fury and Dressed To Kill, which featured De Palma's former wife Nancy Allen. The latter film drew heavily on Hitchcock's influence, as would later projects.

His love for Antonioni's films inspired his next project; Blow Out; which was followed by the violent classic Scarface. I was surprised at how little he had to say about the film, considering its one of his most famous. He touches upon his videos for Bruce Springsteen and mentions in passing his next couple of films but seems to have more to say about The Untouchables; his 1987 crime film starring Kevin Costner. De Palma discusses the casting of the film; his decisions to use Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro and how Andy Garcia came to his attention. The famous baby carriage scene; De Palma's homage to Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin; earns screen-time.

Casualties of War is covered in more detail. De Palma's Vietnam film starred Sean Penn as a sadistic sergeant whose unit kidnaps a Vietnamese girl to use for sex; a heinous act opposed by the film's conscience; a soldier played by Michael J. Fox. As the two main characters become adversaries in the film, De Palma recalls how Penn avoided Fox during shooting, which helped forge palpable tension between the two actors. During a military courtroom scene later in the film, after Fox's character testifies against those in his unit, we see an angry Penn stop to whisper something in his nemesis' ear. According to De Palma, Penn said "TV actor," which was an obvious shot at Fox's resume, which relegated mostly to the little-screen at the time.

De Palma's biggest big screen bomb; Bonfire of the Vanities isn't swept under the carpet but is dealt with honestly. The casting of Tom Hanks is mentioned as one of the many criticisms of the film but the disdain felt by those who loved Tom Wolfe's book was the worst.
The latter half of De Palma's career fills the documentary's last reel as films like Carlito's Way, Mission Impossible, Mission to Mars, and Black Dahlia receive their share of the director's memories.

Relying on one person's perspective means less desirable topics are given short shrift, like the contention by critics and feminists that De Palma's films are alarmingly misogynistic. Given the evidence, the accusation isn't far-fetched but it isn't totally fair either. De Palma doesn't devote much time to the subject though he doesn't ignore it completely either.

Allowing the director to tell the story without talking heads denies the audience perspective though I found Baumbach and Paltrow's approach to telling his story sound. Here we have an artist and his recollections, which are inherently subjective; objective observations from talking heads are beside the point.

De Palma seems very unpretentious and personable. It's easy to be drawn into what is essentially an artist's monologue.

Critical assessments of his work are topics for another film or book. What we have here is De Palma on De Palma, which is fascinating enough. If the film fails to make the viewer want to revisit De Palma's work, it will nevertheless impart a deeper appreciation for his work.