Arts, Biography Documentary with no narration published by Oscilloscope Films in 2018 - English language
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Although Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s-HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, COMING HOME, BEING THERE-he is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation.
Ashby was a Hollywood director who constantly clashed with Hollywood, but also a unique soul with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His films were an elusive blend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring HAL, you feel buoyed by Ashby's love of people and of cinema, a little like walking on water.
HAL is a long-overdue feature length documentary film celebrating the life and work of director Hal Ashby, set against a backdrop of a rapidly changing America, and an even more dramatic shift in filmmaking. While Ashby was once the toast of "New Hollywood" his rise and fall became an archetypal story of art versus industry.
Director Hal Ashby's singular genius led to an unprecedented string of Oscar-winning films in the 1970s. His legacy is undeniable-HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, BOUND FOR GLORY, COMING HOME, and BEING THERE-and yet the obsessive and uncompromising nature that brought us these films became his downfall.
On camera interviews with Oscar-winning actors Lee Grant, Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Louis Gossett Jr, Jeff Bridges, and more recall how they were empowered by Ashby and granted collaborative freedom. Contemporary directors including Alexander Payne, Judd Apatow, Lisa Cholodenko, and David O. Russell attest to the quiet but powerful influence Ashby has had on their own filmmaking. Behind the camera colleagues Norman Jewison, Robert Towne, Haskell Wexler, and Pablo Ferro stand witness to Ashby's brilliance as a filmmaker and the forces that led to his undoing.
While on the outside Ashby embodied a quintessential peaceful vibe, internally he was dealing with deeper issues that he then transformed into the main themes of his work. Out of his anti-authoritarian inclinations leftover from a troubled childhood emerged a filmmaker dedicated to making prescient films that challenged racial stereotypes and gentrification; examined military authority; celebrated love that knows no color, age or race; explored sexual politics during a time of national crisis; championed a socialist folk singer; illuminated the plight of veterans and the cost of war; and revealed the dark underbelly of corporate control of American politics.
In the 1980s, with the advent of the film franchise came a major shift in the Hollywood business model. While contemporaries Coppola, Scorsese, and Spielberg rose to stardom riding the blockbuster wave, Ashby released a perplexing series of flops and disasters. The industry began to dismiss his brilliance amid rumors of drug addiction and cost overruns. His profound humanity, ability with actors, and genius in the editing room went from an Oscar-winning formula to a perceived liability. The latitude that directors were given in the 1970s was dissolved to make way for a different era in filmmaking, one that did not entertain Ashby's process-oriented methods.
HAL explores the complex balance of art and commerce, the passions that drive an artist to create, and what this one artist was willing to sacrifice for his work. HAL compels us to re-examine why we make films, reminds us of what film can be, that it has a power to move and transform us.
Amy Scott's exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personal letters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist.
Directed by Amy Scott ; Oscilloscope Laboratories Production with Shark Pig Documentary Studio and Saboteur Media
Video Codec: x264 CABAC High@L4 Video Bitrate: 3 350 Kbps Video Resolution: 1920x1080 Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Frames Per Second: 23.976 fps Audio Codec: AAC (LC) Audio Bitrate: 137 kb/s VBR 48.0 kHz Audio Streams: 2 Audio Languages: english RunTime Per Part: 1 h 30 min Number Of Parts: 1 Part Size: 2.20 GB Source: WEB DL (Thanks to NoGrp) Encoded by: DocFreak08
