Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

I saw this film at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. The daughter of the late filmmaker John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands, Xan (Alexandra) Cassavetes grew up surrounded by the culture of film. But in her teens, she began to form her own taste, thanks in part to an innovative Los Angeles area cable channel. Z Channel began in 1974, long before there was a Blockbuster Video on every block, and it showed both neglected American films as well as the greats of European cinema. Xan set out to make a straight documentary about the channel, and in the process found a whole other story.

Jerry Harvey was a film geek's film geek. He joined Z Channel in 1980 after programming films for a local art-house cinema. Under Harvey's direction, Z Channel really took off, competing against heavyweights like HBO. While remaining a local treasure, Z Channel's influence was disproportionate to its subscriber base, since so many filmmakers lived in the LA area. Harvey was a friend and champion of such filmmakers as Sam Peckinpah, Henry Jaglom, Michael Cimino, Robert Altman, and Paul Verhoeven, and was one of the first to show "director's cuts" of such misunderstood films as Heaven's Gate, Once Upon A Time In America, and The Wild Bunch. But he was also a deeply troubled man. His obsessive nature fuelled his work, but it often led to bouts of crushing depression. His mood swings culminated in a terrible tragedy in 1988 when he killed his wife and then took his own life. Remembrances from his friends are still fraught with grief and anger, more than fifteen years later.

While at first, I wondered if I were seeing two films (a portrait of Jerry Harvey, and an appreciation of overlooked films), I realized that the beauty of Cassavetes' film is that she's celebrating the life and achievements of Jerry Harvey by talking about some of the films that he brought to her attention through Z Channel. Not his tragic end, but what came before. So often, when a life ends in tragedy or violence, we only remember that part. Sure, you could call Harvey a murderer. But he was also an incredible film lover and filmmaker's advocate, someone who had a wide ranging influence as well as a group of loyal friends who are still reeling from his loss.

Z Channel only lasted about a year after Harvey's death, and the many people interviewed (Quentin Tarantino, James Woods, Theresa Russell, Paul Verhoeven, Robert Altman, and Jacqueline Bisset among them) seem almost as wistful about the death of a certain era in cable television as of their friend Jerry Harvey.

P.S. It seems fitting that I should end my 2004 Toronto International Film Festival experience with a film about a TV channel that director Henry Jaglom described as "like a film festival in your house every night."

What anyone looking at this documentary needs to know first is .... although the "Z" channel was a Los Angeles based subscription service, almost everything you see now on premium cable and on DVD benefited from this channel's existence.

I came to Los Angeles actually in the late middle to the end of Z's reign. Who knew at that time how important a little channel like this would be and what an impact it would make on the film industry actors, actresses, directors, producers careers?!?! I had no idea it began in the 70's. I had no idea how many films got Academy Award notice because of the showings...but most importantly, I never knew exactly what kind of a person Jerry Harvey was....except I thought he was brilliant.

This film was made by the daughter of a man who's films were shown on this channel - and honestly if I never saw "Z", I NEVER would have known John Cassevettes was one heck of a director as well as actor. That's the beauty of this documentary. That's what Zan wants everyone to understand and she does get that across.

But, as a subscriber of "Z" and not in the "inner workings" of "Z", I have quite the romanticism toward the channel, I've written many reviews on IMDb for foreign films I saw on "Z" and never anywhere else...and in many cases have never seen these films again. I can't even REMEMBER who did what film or the name of them and I wish I could...and I wish there was a running listing in this documentary so folks could see just how influential this channel was. You see, when I arrived in Los Angeles there were only a few cable networks: "ON", "Select" "HBO" "Showtime" and "Z". I HAD to have "Z". I was a "Z" junkie.

Although this documentary seemed heavy on the life of troubled programmer Jerry Harvey, I watched it to see the impact of "Z" on many directors, films, edit and film releases to the masses. This was the beginning of what we have today on DVD's "Directors Cuts" and "Extra Footage Not Seen in Theaters" and "Interview/Extras". Yes, it was Jerry Harvey who started the ball rolling with HIS love and support for film, non cut, non edited,RAW...on the "Z" Channel.

You could not help but fall in love with "Z". I've admitted may times in many reviews, "I matured to life watching the Z Channel". Nowadays, its different. But back in the 80's...before "Brokeback Mountain"...there were SEVERAL films made that would make "Brokeback Mountain" look like Sesame Street. I know, I own a few - and these films were made for a heterosexual audience.

The star actors and actresses and directors to me of the "Z" Channel were Sonja Braga, Rutger Hauer, Renée Soutendijk....Director Pedro Almodovar who introduced a little known actor that oozed screen charisma named Antonio Banderas - too many to name here....too many memories of films that shocked me, made me laugh, made me cry - that were NOT widely released in America if not released at all.

Yes, I saw the 99 hour version of "Heaven's Gate" (it really wasn't 99 hours, but the way the studio slammed it made it seem like it was!) and thought "Ya know, it ain't that bad." I watched through the 5 hour version of "Fanny and Alexander" and understood Bergman. The Tin Drum, Beau Pere, Asparagas, Mondo Trasho ...you name it, they were shown. Versions from R to what is now known as NC-17 and even...X (not porno, but very adult situations.) The programming was genius and yes, that was due to Jerry Harvey and his team. The schedule changed weekly, so you had several chances during that week to see what was programmed. You had "Night Owl Theater" which was very popular for obvious reasons and themes/director showcases. I loved the Director's Showcase which connected Directors from films early in their careers to the most recent. This is where I loved Paul Verhooven Pre Robo Cop. You learned what kind of risks these male AND female producers and directors took.

And the documentary talks about the "Z" magazine. Maybe today folks don't see a big deal about a movie magazine because there are so many of them. But The "Z" Channel magazine that came with your subscription was THE history lesson that went with the film. The Magazine and the Channel were one. A unique thing at the time. As was the interviews with with Chaplain. I have one with him speaking to Tom Hanks and the film "Nothing in Common". I even liked those little breaks.

The documentary misses much...(like the surprise New Years Eve Midnight Movie, etc.) but again, I am more inclined to write and think about the brilliance of the channel and not about the demons of the programmer and the hell the staff went through. Zan's documentary put as much as she could in the little time she had and bless her for it. If I knew, I would have done everything to support the effort. "Z"'s place in history is in its programming while the "juicy" story was in its Programmer.

The ironic thing? Yes, Jerry Harvey would have shown this documentary on the "Z" Channel.

I was a long time subscriber, and the documentary did enlighten me about the man and staff behind a channel I'll never forget. This channel will have many perspectives told, this is one of them, and one that gives you quite an overview.

I am hoping that the next "Z" perspective told ...is told through the eyes of someone like me who learned to love film from every walk of life, every voice and vision, every language, every political side, Women in Film, African Americans in film, Hispanics in Film, Asians in Film...every country because of "Z"'s existence.

I always tell people that I went to Film School TWICE - First, at Boston University. The second time watching Z CHANNEL after moving to L.A.. Or, I'd simply say, "Z CHANNEL is the Greatest Channel on Earth!"

It's that kind of worship that obviously inspired Directer Xan Cassavetes to make "Z CHANNEL - A Magnificent Obsession". And, through the dozens of interviews included in the film, you can see how a relatively small local cable outlet (it never even reached 100,000 subscribers) could still burn in the memory 15 years after its untimely and much lamented demise. But, the film is also bittersweet, because the main creative force behind the channel during it's 80's heydey, Jerry Harvey, was a hugely tormented man whose own murder-suicide closely paralleled the channel's rapid demise.

As a documentary, Z CHANNEL, is somewhat lacking. I find it daunting to imagine very many viewers who didn't subscribe to the channel to either enjoy the movie, or even figure out exactly why it was made. Even a hardcore partisan like myself found it somewhat lacking in context or in giving a clear, lucid description of exactly WHAT Z CHANNEL was or what they showed. Yes, there are some wonderful interviews with Robert Altman, Vilmos Zsigmond and Quentin Tarantino (who, ironically, lived OUTSIDE its subscription area and could only experience it vicariously through a friend's VHS dubs!) as well as some scattershot clips from various movies that were carried on the station. But, why, for instance, do we never get a sample listing of all the films that played during a particular week or a particular month? And, why do we NEVER see actual FOOTAGE from the channel? (The movie clips are Presented as FILM which is certainly aesthetically pleasing when viewed in a theater but not representative of how they were watched on early 80's TV's). Were there rights issues? Certainly, testimony from Tarantino, Alexander Payne and others proves that people have tapes where excerpts could have been culled from. I still have dozens of recordings if they need it for the DVD! Not even a still frame of the station logo? Odd.

What can't be denied is the passion for movies that breathes in every word that is spoken by the interviewees. Careers were made (James Woods, Theresa Russell) or re-discovered for a new generation (Richard Brooks, Sam Peckinpah) simply because of the fact that an inordinately large percentage of the Hollywood community was hooked up to Z CHANNEL (it even aired movies for Academy Awards Consideration long before screener tapes). Some of the same forces that began to coalesce to crush Z CHANNEL (HBO, Cable & Satellite growth, STUDIO mergers with multi-national corporations) are even more in effect now, so it's impossible to imagine such a network existing again.

Long live Z CHANNEL - at least in the memories of those who knew it.

Watching this extremely interesting, informative and captivating documentary made me jealous of what films were available to LA viewers back in 70s and 80s on the Z Channel, the first American pay-cable station before HBO or Showtime: from Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and "Images" to Fellini, to Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublyov", to Kurosawa's films, to Antonioni's festival, to the full 15 1/2 hours Fassbinder's "Berlin Alexanderplatz", to the restored full version of Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate", to the director's cut of Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America", to Bertolucci's "1900", the 5 hours version. The man behind it, Jerry Harvey was a visionary and a great lover of the European and Independent movies and many famous filmmakers (Robert Altman, Jacqueline Bisset , Jim Jarmusch, Theresa Russell and many more), critics, and former co-workers as well as his first wife and his long-time girlfriend pay their tribute to him and his legacy in the documentary. They share the memories of a channel that had brought the great and unavailable anywhere else films that influenced the new generation of filmmakers, Alexander Payne and Quentin Tarantino are just two names among many. The stories of Jerry Harvey are inter-cut by the clips from the great movies that were first available to the lucky subscribers of the Z Channel. I can't resist in naming few more: "Les Enfants du paradis" (1945) aka "Children of Paradise", "Il Gattopardo" (1963) aka "The Leopard", "Fitccarraldo" (1982) , "Path of Glory", "Turkish Delight" (1973), L'Avventura, (1960), "Professione: reporter" (1975), "La Notte" (1961), "Les Quatre cents coups" (1959) aka "400 Blows" , "Tystnaden" (1963) aka "The Silence", "Le Magnifique" (1973) aka "The Magnificent".

James Woods remembers how much he enjoyed working with Oliver Stone on the movie "Salvador" (1986) and he thinks of the role of Richard Boyle, the journalist whose book the films was based on as his best acting achievement. The film was a flop and was pulled from the theaters in two weeks. Jerry Harvey offered to show it on the Z Channel and it ran there for over a month. The next thing, Woods recalls - the movie received two Academy Awards nominations – for the Best Actor in a Leading Role for him and for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen –for Stone and Boyle. Woods is sure that it would not have been possible without Z Channel because nobody would see "Salvador".

Thanks to the documentary, I was able to recognize the movie that I saw many years ago in Moscow and still remember well, I could not only recall the title. I remember that the movie was Dutch, very erotic – in the raw, brutal, twisted yet beautiful and passionate way. Watching "Z Channel.." last night, I was happy to instantly recognize "Turks fruit" (1973) aka "Turkish Delight" made by Paul Verhoeven in 1973. There are not very many directors in the world that can create the atmosphere of raw sensuality as well as Verhoeven (of his Dutch period, especially). I am going to try to find "Turkish Delight" and see it again.

The film does not hide the dark side of Harvey who with two sisters was raised by the fundamental catholic father in a strict house. One of his sisters has committed suicide and the other vanished (more likely she took her own life, also). Harvey described his childhood as a cross between "American Graffiti" and "Two Lane Blacktop". For many years, Harvey had fought his mental conditions but in the end, he could not cope with the problems, external - pertaining to selling Z Channel to a company that tried to combine films with sports programming and mental that had always been the part of his life. In April 1988 , Harvey shot to death his second wife Deri Rudolf with the gun who was presented to him by his long time friend, Sam Pekinpah. Then, he killed himself.

Controversial and disturbed, fiercely intelligent, madly in love with the films but sadly having lost the battle to the demons of depression, Harvey's will be remembered for bringing to the viewers the films in their "Director's Cut" and the best foreign and independent films.

In the conclusion I want to mention that the movie was made by Alexandra ("Xan") Cassavetes, the daughter of John Cassavetes, the Godfather of American Independent film-making and his muse Gena Rowlands.

For any of us who grew up with cable being a basic amenity and movies at our disposal with the dozens of premium movie channels, Blockbusters on every corner and now DVDs on our doorstep with the click of a mouse button, it is hard to imagine that there was a time when movie lovers were limited to seeing edited versions of commercial films on network television, blank VHS tapes cost $20 apiece (true story – my Dad used to have to choose the films he taped very wisely) and the only easy way to see a film was when it came to the local movie theater. In 1974, however, the first pay-channel appeared on West Coast cable boxes, with a programming director who had a genuine love of films and filmmakers; this channel was called the Z Channel, and very fittingly, Alexandra Cassevetes (daughter of John and Gena Rowlands) created an incredibly fascinating film documenting its rise and fall.

Jerry Harvey was a college dropout who intensely loved film and film studies, making him the ideal choice for deciding what films would appear on Z Channel. Various former co-workers, critics, directors and actors, mostly independents, offer their fond memories of a channel that had the power to make or break a film or filmmaker. (Cassavetes includes a story about how one of Hollywood's most infamous film debacles, "Heaven's Gate" ended up being ridiculed because of terrible editing; when Z Channel ran the director's cut it was heralded by the public and critics alike.) The vision that Harvey had for the channel and the output it had is envious even by today's standards. They would have Bergman film festivals, uncut versions of films that had only been seen in their edited format, cult and avant garde films; and directors like Alexander Payne (sporting an old Z Channel t-shirt) and Quentin Tarantino share their memories of having tapes of old Z channel broadcasts.

Unfortunately, personal demons and a family history of psychological issues ended Jerry Harvey's life and the life of his wife when he first killed her then killed himself. This was shortly after the eventual demise of the Z channel itself, which first sold out and shared programming with ESPN, and then was dissolved altogether. Despite its unceremonious demise, Z channel is remembered fondly by those that experienced its programming and were involved in its broadcasting, and is looked upon with reverence by anyone who considers themselves, like Jerry Harvey, a life-long student of film. This is an excellent documentary and really is a must-see for film buffs. 8/10 --Shelly