The Art of Observing Life

Russian-born director and UCLA instructor Marina Goldovskaya's documentary about the cinéma vérité school of filmmaking combines interviews conducted with filmmakers (in Los Angeles, New York, and Normandy), together with relevant film clips. Richard Leacock (1960's Primary) talks about working with Robert J. Flaherty (director of the 1922 classic Nanook of the North), who encouraged Leacock to let the story tell itself while collecting material. “I've never done anything else in my life,” says Leacock, who even served as cameraman in the military, after proving to be ill-suited for administrative work. Lionel Rogosin (1956's On the Bowery) says that he likes to approach subjects from several angles. Avant-garde filmmaker and archivist Jonas Mekas, one of Rogosin's early champions, describes his camera as “an extension of my fingers, my eyes—of me.” When Goldovskaya asks Lithuanian refugee Mekas if he considers himself an immigrant, he says, "Cinema is our home, our country." D.A. Pennebaker talks about working with Leacock and Robert Drew on Primary, which profiled a charismatic Massachusetts senator who would go on to become president, while Albert Maysles talks about two of his landmark documentaries: 1968's Salesman and 1975's Grey Gardens. Other directors interviewed here include Michael Rubbo, Allan King, and Pennebaker's partner, Chris Hegedus. Although The Art of Observing Life rambles at times, the subjects offer lots of words of wisdom about filmmaking, especially for those interested in direct cinema. Says Drew of their heyday, "We would work until we dropped," at which point he recalls the time that Maysles literally fell asleep—his head hit the table—while shooting a film. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)