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The Directors - Barry Levinson |
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Reviews |
Features:
Description:
Barry Levinson comes off as a genuinely modest and amiable subject in this edition of The Directors series, simultaneously confessing an inability to define his working methods while conveying the certainty that he knows what he's doing. Film directing is an often mysterious and intangible process, as Levinson observes, but he clearly possesses a gift for creating indelible moments on film, particularly with well-chosen ensemble casts. A humanist who specializes in semiautobiographical comedy and drama (in his ongoing cycle of Baltimore movies), Levinson shares many of the motivations behind his work, while making a variety of seasoned observations about the subtle art of directing actors. On this topic, Dustin Hoffman weighs in with interesting anecdotes about Levinson's direction of him in Rain Man, including a simple direction to use the word Yeah as a defining characteristic that brought Hoffman's performance vividly to life. As might be expected, Robin Williams offers a high-speed combination of comedic riffs and affectionate appreciation (since Levinson was the first to give Williams a dramatic role, in Good Morning, Vietnam). Interestingly, Levinson notes that his overlooked 1999 drama Liberty Heights (that deals with themes of discrimination and racial identity) was inspired by a review of his sci-fi thriller Sphere, which made pointless reference to Dustin Hoffman's Jewishness. This kind of perceptive inquiry can be found in all of Levinson's films, along with a rich understanding of human nature that's clearly visible throughout this one-hour program. --Jeff Shannon
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