Like most people who follow the works of famous directors, I'm sure you too entertain that nagging question each time you view a new work from a favorite auteur; namely, "yeah, but what does the director's butt look like?" Well, in the case of the buns of Oliver Stone (Nixon, Natural Born Killers), both cheeks are prominently featured (albeit from 30 years ago) in this compilation of interviews with directors which, unfortunately, also includes full-length showings of their student films. Divided into a pair of two-hour volumes, the opening title in the First Works series interviews Stone, whose student film about a disenchanted Vietnam vet starring the director himself is unremarkable except for--as we say in Psycho parlance--"the shower scene" featuring the naked backside of a young Oliver Stone. The interview appears to have been filmed in late 1988, while Stone was making Born on the Fourth of July starring Tom Cruise. This was before Stone became such a controversial figure on the film landscape: here, he still comes across as a nice guy. Spike Lee, interviewed on the cusp of superstardom (while making Do the Right Thing), introduces a pair of his early works, including "The Answer," a caustic comedy in which a struggling black screenwriter is offered the chance to write the screenplay for a lavish remake of D.W. Griffith's racist classic Birth of a Nation. And Robert Zemeckis shares his admittedly funny (though overlong) maiden film which caught the attention of Steven Spielberg and formed the beginning of a long working relationship. The other directors interviewed on the first volume are Taylor Hackford, Paul Mazursky, and the indy king Roger Corman. The second volume features John Carpenter, Richard Donner, Ron Howard, John Milius, Martin Scorsese, and Susan Seidelman. Somewhat dated (the interviews appear to all be from the late 80's), this collection will still definitely appeal to the legion of Entertainment Weekly readers and bona fide film buffs alike. Recommended. (R. Pitman)
First Works
(1995) 2 videocassettes, 120 min. each. $59.95. Rhino Home Video. Color cover. Vol. 11, Issue 2
First Works
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