The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

Well no pun intended obviously - may he rest in peace, you are not able to literally call him. But you'll understand what I am referring to once you watch the documentary and an interview he gave after he was knighted ... his reaction is as we'd say in Greece: all the money (worth gold I reckon would be the translation).

Some who watched it didn't like that we get to see a puppet (version) of Christopher Lee ... and that another actor is giving him a voice. But I like that they went that route. It makes this different than other biographies. And it is also very well done.

The timeline is clear and while I wasn't sure they could make a whole life justice in 2 hours ... well in just two hours, after watching it, I think they did as much as they could and this had new stuff in it for me. Like things I was not aware of - not that I read a biography of his. But between his movies and his demeanor, his acting and his love for singing and dancing ... to actually fulfilling some of the stuff he always wanted to do ... well what more can you wish for? Rhetorical asking of course.

We don't just get Lee talking about himself and his life (and deaths) ... no we get to see collaborators and family members ... all giving insight to the man who probably is best known for portraying Dracula ... though that was not his first (major) role. Also he himself would have loved to be remembered for another movie ... I was not even aware of. But one he is very much proud of.

I almost did not watch this at Frightfest, but I am glad I did ... I hope if this gets released on disc or digitally, it will have some additional scenes and interviews. Just because I can imagine there is more ... and who wouldn't want more?

Before watching this film I knew that Christopher Lee was a gigachad and man of mettle, but oh boy I was not ready for what I witnessed. From a nazi-hunting agent during wars and getting into acting by an accident, and then excelling in it almost out of the blue... What an inspiration to us all. It was said that his bloodline can be traced back to the Charlemagne and that his family has had many people in high positions and it was almost inevitable that Christopher too would achieve much. And he certainly did. First time I saw Christopher Lee in my life was when I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy and he had a commanding presence on screen as the evil wizard Saruman. After this movie I am looking forward to watch some of his other iconic roles, and I have been headbanging to his metal songs. I have even listened to Name Your Poison song during the weekend more than once. Hats off to the chad.

Hugely original documentary with the sublime Peter Serafinowicz speaking as Lee throughout and as a sort of Gerry Anderson puppet. This works so very well and adds a degree of affection around the man that many film star documentaries don't. Obviously aside from the auto biographical narration, there is a great deal of factual information tracing his childhood, his secretive wartime experiences, his musical aspirations - mmm, and of course his record breaking number of films, many of which were great, many not.

The fascinating thing that comes out throughout this is the really really huge affection in which he is held by the likes of family, friends as well as luminaries John Landis, Joe Dante and Peter Jackson, who all get a bit choked talking about him. They all seem to say the same thing in that he was never satisfied with what he did, was always quite nervous and really didn't understand how much people wanted to work with him and watch him. Jackson summed him up best I think when he said that Lee never really got to properly understand the balance between what his horror work contributed to the world of cinema and how much he was loved with what he considered was his best work towards the end of his life eg Jinnah, Lord of the Rings etc. A gloriously touching and sort of sad documentary.

2 things to note:

• the scene where he's laughing with a very old Peter Cushing is quite the loveliest thing.

• I don't know why they didn't mention The Three Musketeers which I thought he was great in.

I have to say first that I really admire Christopher Lee and his acting was always top notch. But I have to admit I am very disappointed in this documentary. That is nothing against the man at all but the stylistic choices made in this production left me cold.

I admit not knowing too much about the man and was excited to discover more of his life and the great body of work he left behind. But sadly, instead of showing us the actor in archive footage, they had this weird animation and a puppet with string narrated by Peter Serafinowicz. And although he did a fair job, I felt like it took away from the subject at hand.

I wanted to see Christopher in every way possible through archive footage in candid and professional settings. And we certainly saw a little bit but instead of showing us clips of his many movies and various interviews, we would mostly have people talking about him.

Of course, talking heads are a necessary part of any documentary but in this instance I feel like they overshadowed the man instead of honoring him. If we had seen more of the actor I wouldn't have minded as much.

But to me, this felt like he had a secondary part in his own life story. I just didn't care for the puppet at all and still feel like I don't know enough about one of the greatest actor we've ever had.