David Holzman's Diary (1967)

Young filmmaker decides to make a movie of his life.

Director:

Jim McBride

Stars:

L.M. Kit Carson, Eileen Dietz, Louise Levine

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
L.M. Kit Carson	...	David Holzman
Eileen Dietz	...	Penny Wohl
Lorenzo Mans	...	Pepe
Louise Levine	...	Sandra
Fern McBride	...	Girl on the subway
Mike Levine	...	Sandra's Boy Friend (as Michel Lévine)
Robert Lesser	...	Max, Penny's agent (as Bob Lesser)
Jack Baran	...	Cop

Storyline

This fake documentary which appears quite real on the surface is about a young man making a movie about his everyday life and discovering something important about himself and his reality. This film is not a real documentary or is it?

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Plot Keywords:

satire | experimental film | filmmaking | independent film | vagina | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Quotes

Pepe: The problem is you want to make a movie out of your life, all right. So you want to be in it and you want Penny to be in it and me to be in it. And I'm an interesting character. But you're not an interesting character to watch, and Penny is certainly not an interesting character at all.

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Connections

Referenced in La última película (2013)

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Soundtracks

Green Onions
Written by Booker T. Jones, Al Jackson Jr., Lewie Steinberg and Steve Cropper
Performed by Booker T. & the M.G.s

User Reviews

The fuss is that it's a satirical piece

I guess you would get confused if you didn't understand the hype and hoopla surrounding the cinema verité movement during this era.

David Holzman's Diary serves to lampoon cinema verité by showing one dull, overly introspective scene after another. It's a thinly-veiled attack on what director Jim McBride saw as a pretentious cinematic form.

The fact that cinema verité is not widely regarded today (except in film schools) is a testimony to how dated this film now appears. That said, Roman Coppola endlessly references this film in his debut, "CQ". Perhaps McBride's film will enjoy a bit of a renaissance.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1975 (France)

Also Known As:

David Holzmans Tagebuch

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1