Film Documentary
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- StarsLindsay AndersonCharles LamontWilliam R. CoxA series about the life, career and works of the movie comedy genius.
- DirectorRichard SchickelStarsCharles ChaplinSydney PollackBill IrwinNarrated by Sydney Pollack, film critic Richard Schickel's dazzling two-hour plus documentary to one of the towering figures in film: Charles Chaplin. Hardcore Chaplin fans may not find much new material here, but more unfamiliar admirers will gain some valuable information about one of the most famous personalities of the 20th century. Schickel has constructed the documentary as a chronological survey of Chaplin's work, starting with his most significant shorts and covering all of his features. Schickel supports his narration with testimony from artists familiar with Chaplin's work and family members who offer personal insights into the comedian's life. The documentary plays down but doesn't ignore the controversies that swirled around Chaplin's private life. But the main focus is on the films. They include some of the best-loved movies of all time. Clips from "Kid Auto Races at Venice," the 1914 Keystone short in which Chaplin first used his Tramp costume, reveal a startlingly modern technique and sensibility, as if the filmmakers were predicting and mocking reality TV. Subsequent shorts show Chaplin refining his 'Little Tramp' character while absorbing the essentials of filmmaking. By the time he made "Easy Street," in 1917, Chaplin had perfected a combination of knockabout farce and Victorian sentiment that still proves irresistible. Chaplin's early features, including "The Kid," "The Gold Rush" and "City Lights," were such blockbuster hits that he could essentially ignore the coming of sound for almost a decade. Those making appearances on the program include Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Jeanine Basinger, Claire Bloom, Geraldine Chaplin. Sydney Chaplin, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Milos Forman, Bill Irwin, Norman Lloyd, Marcel Marceau, David Raksin, David Robinson, Andrew Sarris, Martin Scorsese and Jeffrey Vance.
- StarsJames MasonHans-Joachim KulenkampffJackie CooganUsing in part rare out-take footage, the film-making methods and techniques of Charles Chaplin are explored.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsWilliam FriedkinFritz LangAmerican director William Friedkin interviewed Austrian director Fritz Lang on February 21st and 24th, 1975.
- DirectorMorgan NevilleStarsAlan CummingPeter BogdanovichOja KodarIn the final fifteen years of the life of legendary director Orson Welles, he pins his Hollywood comeback hopes on a film, The Other Side of the Wind (2018), in itself a film about an aging film director trying to finish his last great movie.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsJohn FordPeter BogdanovichOrson WellesA documentary on the life and films of director John Ford.
- DirectorTed HaimesStarsKevin SpaceyJonathan DemmeAlfred HitchcockThis documentary is a fascinating look at the cinematic genius of Alfred Hitchcock. Briefly covering much of his early British works, the film primarily focuses on his American classics, such as "Shadow of a Doubt", "Notorious", "Rear Window", "Vertigo", "Psycho" and "The Birds". The movie also covers his television years and neatly examines the Hitchcock signature touches, from his inevitable brief cameo to his famous MacGuffin. Kevin Spacey narrates, and there are interviews with his delightful daughter Pat as well as such film directors as Brian De Palma, Jonathan Demme, Curtis Hanson, Robert Altman, Ronald Neame and Peter Bogdanovich, along with cast and crew members Tippi Hedren, Joseph Stefano, Norman Lloyd, Robert F. Boyle, Teresa Wright and Janet Leigh.
- DirectorKent JonesStarsWes AndersonPeter BogdanovichDavid FincherFilmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.
- DirectorAnnie TresgotMichel CimentStarsBilly WilderMichel CimentJack LemmonFrench film critic Michel Ciment interviews Billy Wilder about his life and film-making.
- DirectorHisao KurosawaStarsAkira KurosawaKazuko KurosawaA documentary in 10 parts covering the filmmaking of Kurosawa around the theme of making the perfect movie or as he says: A Beautiful Movie.
- DirectorKent JonesMartin ScorseseStarsMartin ScorseseElia KazanElias KoteasA documentary on the late Elia Kazan.
- DirectorNancy BuirskiStarsSidney LumetIn a never-before-seen interview filmed in 2008, three years before his death, Sidney Lumet discusses his life and career.
- DirectorVilgot SjömanStarsIngmar BergmanGunnar BjörnstrandSven NykvistVilgot Sjöman (I Am Curious -- Yellow 1967) and a crew from Swedish Television followed Ingmar Bergman during the filming of Winter Light and came away with a five-part documentary, including set construction, rehearsals, editing, and behind-the-camera conversations with Bergman and the cast and crew, and audience reactions to the film.
- DirectorCyril LeuthyStarsJean-Paul BelmondoJacques ChancelAlain DelonA French TV documentary gives an updated look at the maverick filmmaker, who built his own independent studio, managed to get some big stars but often clashed with them, he was in a way like one of those ancient Japanese warriors.
- DirectorFlorence PlataretsStarsNathalie BayeJean-Paul BelmondoClaude BrasseurThe film is an archival self-portrait of Jean-Luc Godard. Through his words, gaze and work, the film tells the story of a life of cinema; that of a man who will always demand a lot of himself and his art, to the point of merging with it.
- DirectorJan HarlanStarsKatharina KubrickMalcolm McDowellStanley KubrickThe career and life of Stanley Kubrick is explored through pictures, clips from his films, his old home movies, comments from his colleagues and a narration by Tom Cruise.
- DirectorMichael VenturaStarsTed AllanHelen CaldwellJohn CassavetesDirector Michael Ventura goes behind the scenes on the set of John Cassavetes' last written and directed movie, Love Streams (1984).
- DirectorMarina ZenovichStarsAndrew BraunsbergRichard BrennemanDouglas DaltonExamines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary filmmaker Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachJake PaltrowStarsBrian De PalmaMark HamillAmy IrvingA documentary about writer and director Brian De Palma.
- DirectorAmy ScottStarsHal AshbyNorman JewisonHaskell WexlerHal Ashby's obsessive genius led to an unprecedented string of Oscar®-winning classics, including Harold and Maude (1971), Shampoo and Being There. But as contemporaries Francis Ford Coppola, Scorsese and Spielberg rose to blockbuster stardom in the 1980s, Ashby's uncompromising nature played out as a cautionary tale of art versus commerce.
- DirectorFrancesco ZippelStarsSergio LeoneDario ArgentoDarren AronofskyA worldwide homage by various artists to the legendary italian director Sergio Leone, pioneer in the western genre and famous for the creation of the subgenre "spaghetti western".
- DirectorMike SiegelStarsMario AdorfR.G. ArmstrongSenta BergerThe life and times of maverick filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (1925 - 1984)
- DirectorSusan LacyStarsSteven SpielbergMartin ScorseseRichard DreyfussA documentary on Steven Spielberg, filmmaker. Includes interviews with relatives, film critics, peers and people who have worked with him.
- DirectorJoey FigueroaZak KnutsonStarsJohn MiliusEthan MiliusAmanda MiliusA look at the life of filmmaker John Milius.
- DirectorJulien DunandStarsJohn CarpenterNicolas SaadaJean-Baptiste ThoretA dive into the cinematographic universe of John Carpenter, the director of "Halloween", "The Thing", "Fog" or "Invasion Los Angeles".