David Holzman's Diary

Stars: L.M. Kit Carson, Eileen Dietz. Recently inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, director Jim McBride's (Great Balls of Fire, The Big Easy) 1967 spoof on filmmaking will be lost on most modern audiences. In fact, the average person who pops this into his or her VCR and sees a black & white film featuring a guy named David (L.M. Kit Carson) sitting in his apartment talking to the camera about his life is going to think that somebody recorded their home movie over the real film. Not so. David films himself sitting in his chair saying nothing. David films his girlfriend sleeping naked in bed. David films himself calling his girlfriend. David films a girl leaving the subway. David films people sitting on park benches. David talks while the camera is shut off and we stare at a blank screen. And so on. Near the end of this interminably long 74 minute movie, David complains to the camera: "you don't show me anything that means anything." Yep, that's true. Problem is that self-referential filmmaking may have been really nuevo in 1967, but today it's satirized on sitcom TV. In 1993, we are so far ahead of David Holzman's snail-paced self-observations that we can do the "seeing the self as other" lecture in 4 minutes and snooze during the remaining 70. Audience: FSO (film students only). (R. Pitman)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Aug. 16, 2011—Kino Lorber, 73 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its first appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1967's David Holzman's Diary boasts a great transfer and 2.0 mono sound. DVD/Blu-ray extras include three bonus films by director Jim McBride: 1969's My Girlfriend's Wedding (62 min.), 1971's Pictures from Life's Other Side (45 min.), and 2008's My Son's Wedding to My Sister-in-Law (8 min.). Bottom line: an excellent extras package for a minor indie film classic.]