Review of De Palma (2016) by Foxgrove — 27 Oct 2016

As a card carrying member of the De Palma fan club it is much appreciated to find this an absorbing and fitting tribute to the best director of all time. There are no talking heads here, only the big guy himself tossing out facts or anecdotal tidbits on all his films from A-Z. And indeed the work speaks for itself. Even a lesser De Palma was always better than the best from a journeyman director. His best work, Carrie, is my favourite film of all time, but his other greats include Phantom of the Paradise, Obsession, Dressed to Kill, Blow out and The Untouchables. Another couple of his films would also deserve this accolade – Scarface and Casualties of War. However, their distressingly unflinching content makes them far more difficult to want to revisit. De Palma himself states that most Directors do their best work in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and it would certainly seem to be true when assessing his filmography. His later films whilst never less than interesting are nowhere near the quality of his best work. In fact between 1990 and 2016 he has only made one outstanding movie – Carlito’s Way.

The 70’s was indeed a great decade for both movies and directors. Spielberg, Coppola and Scorsese were all getting their due. King of them all though was this man, comparatively under appreciated. His imaginative use of the camera, stylisation and fearless audacity are just breath taking. He certainly knows how to produce a ‘set piece’. Hitchcock should, and I’m sure would, have been flattered by his visual tributes. His many critics were arbitrarily dismissive and uncomprehending of his nods to the ‘master of suspense’. Only the legendary Pauline Kael seemed to truly champion him. De Palma can also be proud of the absolutely beautiful music scores that accompany most of his films from composers like Pino Donaggio, Bernard Herrman and Ennio Morricone.

Film makers Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow are to be congratulated, not only for the wealth of film clips on offer, but for allowing us to feast on the brilliance that is Brian De Palma. It is, as Films Illustrated said in their review of ‘Carrie’ in 1977, a superb treat.