David Holzman's Diary

I guess you would get confused if you didn't understand the hype and hoopla surrounding the cinema verité movement during this era.

David Holzman's Diary serves to lampoon cinema verité by showing one dull, overly introspective scene after another. It's a thinly-veiled attack on what director Jim McBride saw as a pretentious cinematic form.

The fact that cinema verité is not widely regarded today (except in film schools) is a testimony to how dated this film now appears. That said, Roman Coppola endlessly references this film in his debut, "CQ". Perhaps McBride's film will enjoy a bit of a renaissance.

This film grabs you in from the get go, and takes you into the mind of a hapless young filmmaker. A true historic masterpiece! It's something completely different and unique from any other moviegoing experience you will ever have. Don't miss a chance to pass this up. A true step forward in filmmaking.

Mock cinema vertite about a young filmmakers consternation at finding 'truth' and putting it on film. Insightfully examines how we define reality, how our perceptions can cloud it, and whether it is really possible to show it on film. Probably to talky for most, but still quite thought provoking. Filled with some really offbeat ideas and camerawork. Among them: filming the faces of people at a bus stop while we hear excerpts from the McCarthy hearings. Also photographing a entire night of tv viewing each minute and then playing them back frame by frame. A very low budget movie, made by some very young filmmakers, with a very original point of view.

If you liked the Blair Witch Project, this is where they probably got the idea. Every film school shows this as an example of a completely fictional documentary, that works. Done in cinema verite style, the fictional angst filled life of a documentary maker falls apart, as he chronicles its disintegration, largely caused by his obsession with filming it as it crumbles. Like watching a train wreck.

I first saw this film on public TV of all places, at about 2:30 am. Not knowing why(or anything about the film),I grabbed a blank tape and recorded it. What followed was a film that grabbed my attention from the opening shot of David with the camera to the end scene where the only thing left is some still shots and David's voice. Being that this is shot on a hand held,it gives it great atmostphere (especially the shots on the street and in Central Park). I recommend this to any future filmmaker and watch with awe.

***1/2