If you want an Academy Award for best documentary, you'd be advised to avoid making such a wonderful and creative film that audiences forget they're watching a documentary. This is the "problem" with "Kid Stays in the Picture". It sets an entirely new standard for documentary film making through use of stunningly simple but highly effective three-dimensional handling of "flat" imagery (e.g., still photos). My favorite example of this is the wisp of smoke that appears to be coming from a cigarette in the hand of someone in a photo. I'm certain that most audience members won't even notice such details (of which there are many); rather, audience members will simply have a "feeling" that they're watching real-time action.
But there's more to this film than a creative and brilliant approach to documentary film making. It's the story -- the terrific yarn-of-a-life -- of Robert Evans. Since seeing the film, I've read Evans' book (on which the film is heavily based) and I've listened to the unabridged audio version of the book (read by Evans himself, similar to his narration of the film). I found all to be fascinating, but the film has something that might have been lacking in the book: thoughtful editing by someone other than Evans. (I still think the book is worth a read, or better yet, have a listen to the tale told by the man himself.)
So, why didn't the film get nominated for an Academy Award? Hollywood insiders may conclude that Evans made too many enemies during his many years in the business. I have no doubt that Evans made plenty of enemies (as do most great executives, as well as most people who manifest any form of greatness), but I think there's a better explanation for the absent nomination. Paradoxically, the film's strength is in this regard its weakness: it's so good that people forget it's a documentary; but because they're conscious of the fact that it's not a traditional feature film, they don't quite know how to categorize it. I'm no historian of the Oscars, but I suspect that films that don't clearly fit a single category have always had trouble getting recognized.
This is a great film, and will most certainly be used in documentary film-making classes for years to come. But you definitely do not need to be a documentarian or even a film-buff to love this movie. It's just a whale of a great tale.
Thank you Robert Evans, Nanette Burstein, and Brett Morgen! I look forward to more from all of you!
But there's more to this film than a creative and brilliant approach to documentary film making. It's the story -- the terrific yarn-of-a-life -- of Robert Evans. Since seeing the film, I've read Evans' book (on which the film is heavily based) and I've listened to the unabridged audio version of the book (read by Evans himself, similar to his narration of the film). I found all to be fascinating, but the film has something that might have been lacking in the book: thoughtful editing by someone other than Evans. (I still think the book is worth a read, or better yet, have a listen to the tale told by the man himself.)
So, why didn't the film get nominated for an Academy Award? Hollywood insiders may conclude that Evans made too many enemies during his many years in the business. I have no doubt that Evans made plenty of enemies (as do most great executives, as well as most people who manifest any form of greatness), but I think there's a better explanation for the absent nomination. Paradoxically, the film's strength is in this regard its weakness: it's so good that people forget it's a documentary; but because they're conscious of the fact that it's not a traditional feature film, they don't quite know how to categorize it. I'm no historian of the Oscars, but I suspect that films that don't clearly fit a single category have always had trouble getting recognized.
This is a great film, and will most certainly be used in documentary film-making classes for years to come. But you definitely do not need to be a documentarian or even a film-buff to love this movie. It's just a whale of a great tale.
Thank you Robert Evans, Nanette Burstein, and Brett Morgen! I look forward to more from all of you!