This week has been marred by the deaths of two kings of
culture. David Bowie and Alan Rickman were as iconic as you could possibly ever
hope to be in their respective fields. Their beauty and craft will continue to
enthral us all, and I for one am so grateful to have experience it as if only
but a mere consumer.
To consider a person’s work as good or bad is an honour in
itself; the very process of taking someone’s attempt at explaining life and the
world, and putting your own spin on it, and what’s more, recommending it or discouraging
such as a wildly narcissistic thing to do. And so you have to be very good at
it.
Something doesn’t necessarily have to be good in order to be
iconic. Peter Bogdanovich’s She’s Funny That Way was packed to the rafters with
cultural references and pastiches to films of the past – it was like watching a
decent Woody Allen film, without that newly-affirmed sense of nauseating guilt.
Similarly, the other film I watched this week, James Gunn’s Super was as iconic
as any superhero film is but without the schmaltz of the bigger and worthier
comic book jobs we’ve seen over the past few years. Ultimately, the subject of
this week’s film was an icon who wasn’t just good, but was transcendent.
Life Itself is the
documentary based on the memoirs of Roger Ebert, who sadly passed away in 2013
due to complications regarding thyroid cancer. A critic himself, Ebert not only
critiqued films but was regularly propelled to the role of valedictorian of America’s
public consciousness.
The documentary was put together within the last year of
Ebert’s life, at the permission of him and his wife Chaz, who features heavily
and is a cornerstone of the film. Her pieces to camera and conversations with
Roger are both illuminating yet grounding; Ebert was lauded across the press
for his approach to death when it was clear his life was ending; however, it is
arguable that his wife’s vulnerability was the biggest strength to them during
this journey.
Another brilliant part of Life Itself is the narrative between the almost constantly warm and
entrancing Roger and director Steve James, which is just honest and charming as
the relationship between Ebert and his other on-screen partner, Gene Siskel.
One epitomising scene occurs in the hospital where Ebert was receiving
treatment, and he asks James to film himself in the mirror, to show that this
is not just a film about a film critic but about the both of them and their
mutual love of film.
Even though the film very much chronicles Ebert’s life and works, we are also witness to the paralleled history of cinema – the greatest barometer for culture – from one of the most incisive and poignant minds in western media. Jame himself is a more than competent director, who with his own
Even though the film very much chronicles Ebert’s life and works, we are also witness to the paralleled history of cinema – the greatest barometer for culture – from one of the most incisive and poignant minds in western media. Jame himself is a more than competent director, who with his own
The only issue I did find with this film is that it seems to
whizz through the latter parts of his life, which albeit were much more calm
than his days as editor at Chicago-Sun Times, seemed to be the times that Roger
loved the most. A charismatic man at all times, his older self seemed like the
Ebert he was most comfortable as. I would have liked to see more of that.
That being said, this is one of the most beautifully crafted
documentaries I’ve ever seen and it is a testament to the man himself that
people loved him so much and wanted to create this to honour this truly
remarkable man. It is such a shame that he didn’t get to see the change he made
in everyone’s life.
Films of the week: Life itself; She's Funny That Way; Super
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