Fun, well made doco on the legendary director/producer which won’t reveal much for the fan but has some great footage and talking heads (John Sayles, Jonathan Demme, Julie Corman, Frances Doel, Jack Nicholson, Joe Dante, Polly Platt [who was executive producer], Peter Bogdanovich, David Carradine, Peter Fonda.
It’s positive about Corman but not uncritical – for instance it’s noted how he couldn’t make the step up to bigger budgeted films in the 70s and how he kind of lost his way as an important filmmaker since the 80s. Some clue for why this happened is given with some observational footage of Corman on location with one of his new films in Mexico – he makes an impatient comment about how long the star takes to get her make up on and is always encouraging the director to shoot faster. I think economy was just too ingrained in his bones.
It’s positive about Corman but not uncritical – for instance it’s noted how he couldn’t make the step up to bigger budgeted films in the 70s and how he kind of lost his way as an important filmmaker since the 80s. Some clue for why this happened is given with some observational footage of Corman on location with one of his new films in Mexico – he makes an impatient comment about how long the star takes to get her make up on and is always encouraging the director to shoot faster. I think economy was just too ingrained in his bones.
Best bits: Jack Nicholson crying with emotion over Corman (“I don’t think people realise how much he is loved”), Quentin Tarantino after the Oscars (the "other night" Oscars, when Corman got his special achievement) wondering if speaking at the awards got him in the Roger Corman school, Peter Bogdanovich cracking a smile and laughing when talking about Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (I don't think I've ever seen him smile before!); Polly Platt saying that after Bogdanovoich left her, Corman rang her up and said she could direct a film whenever she felt like it (you should have done it).
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