Wednesday, May 02, 2012

1725 - The Outsider

I stumbled about this randomly on Netflix.  It's a behind-the-scenes doc about director James Toback being given $2M to make a feature film, When Will I Be Loved - but the catch is that he's only for three weeks to do so.  Being that I'm in the midst of making a little film myself (but not nearly at that budget level), I was obviously interested. 
I've liked pretty much everything of Toback's that I've seen.  I can't say that this really gives insight into his creative process, although there's part of that there.  It's more a film about his character and how he interacts with others.  Sometimes wonderfully and sometimes harshly.  It feels more found-footage than carefully planned - although given that the filmmakers are running wild trying to make it work it's no surprise that this is the same kind of feel.  I suppose that I was a little let down in that I didn't feel like I walked away learning something as a filmmaker that I could use and apply to my own work.  No little tidbits, tricks, or techniques.  Shame really since I'm sure this guy is a locker full of tricks.  Alas.  And the film never really played upon the stress and the quickness with which he'd have to make it.  A tad lifeless if I'm being completely honest.  It's got some great interview subjects as you can see in the labels below.  I'd say if you're interested in the guy at all, it's totally worth checking out.  Anyone not already converted can probably let this one guy...

No comments: