6.7/10
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David Holzman's Diary (1967)

Not Rated | | Comedy, Drama | 29 January 1975 (France)
David Holzman's Diary Poster
Young filmmaker decides to make a movie of his life.

Director:

Jim McBride

Stars:

L.M. Kit Carson, Eileen Dietz, Louise Levine | See full cast & crew »
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2 wins. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
L.M. Kit Carson ... David Holzman
Eileen Dietz ... Penny Wohl
Lorenzo Mans Lorenzo Mans ... Pepe
Louise Levine Louise Levine ... Sandra
Fern McBride Fern McBride ... Girl on the subway
Mike Levine Mike Levine ... Sandra's Boy Friend (as Michel Lévine)
Robert Lesser Robert Lesser ... Max, Penny's agent (as Bob Lesser)
Jack Baran Jack Baran ... Cop
See full cast »
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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? Written by Michael "Durrutti" Valenzuela <mvalenzu@ucsd.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

satire | experimental film | filmmaking | independent film | vagina | See All (87) »

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Certificate:

Not Rated

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1975 (France) See more »

Also Known As:

David Holzmans Tagebuch See more »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

At approximately 45 minutes into the film, the TV show running on the television (while David makes the phone call to Penny) is "The Architects of Fear" from the TV series THE OUTER LIMITS. See more »

Quotes

Pepe: If you want to live with her in her bad movie, it's all right. Because some people's lives are good movies and some people's lives are bad movies. Penny's life is a very bad movie, but don't make me look at it on the screen, please.
See more »

Connections

References Suspicion (1941) See more »

Soundtracks

I'm a Man
Written by Jimmy Miller and Steve Winwood
Performed by The Spencer Davis
See more »

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User Reviews

The fuss is that it's a satirical piece
13 June 2002 | by urbandk – See all my reviews

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.
9 of 14 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
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