Review of Filmworker (2018) by Patrick K — 01 Oct 2018

Leon Vitali is a gifted artist who consciously chose to dedicate his life to someone else's art. It is at times distressing to see how much he jeopardizes his health, his family life, his financial well-being, and - indeed - his very sanity so serve his master, director Stanley Kubrick.

Side note: this documentary provides a plausible explanation why Kubrick produced so few films in his career. It also posits a theory of how Kubrick could work such lengthy shooting schedules and create such lavish-looking films on what aficionados claim are shockingly low budgets.

Watching "Filmworker" will surely inspire you to rewatch the Kubrick canon. Again and again. But I guarantee you'll never sit through another Kubrick movie without the haggard-but-happy images of Leon Vitali haunting the back of your mind. Leon Vitali deserves more than just this fine documentary to honor his life's labors. Much, much more.