Filmworker (2017)

A documentary about how English actor Leon Vitali came to work as an assistant to American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick for over 30 years.

Director:

Tony Zierra

Stars:

Leon Vitali, Ryan O'Neal, Brian Capron

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leon Vitali	...	Himself
Ryan O'Neal	...	Himself
Brian Capron	...	Himself
Mike Alfreds	...	Himself
Nick Redman	...	Himself
Brian Jamieson	...	Himself
Danny Lloyd	...	Himself
Stanley Kubrick	...	Himself (archive footage)
Matthew Modine	...	Himself
R. Lee Ermey	...	Himself
Tim Colceri	...	Himself
Julian Senior	...	Himself
Colin Mossman	...	Himself
Warren Lieberfarb	...	Himself
Lisa Leone	...	Herself

Storyline

It's a rare person who would give up fame and fortune to toil in obscurity for someone else's creative vision. Yet, that's exactly what Leon Vitali did after his acclaimed performance as 'Lord Bullingdon' in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975). The young actor surrendered his thriving career to become Kubrick's loyal right-hand man. For more than two decades, Leon played a crucial role behind-the-scenes helping Kubrick make and maintain his legendary body of work. In Filmworker, Leon's candid, often funny, sometimes shocking experiences in the company of Kubrick are woven together with rich and varied elements including previously unseen photos, videos, letters, notebooks, and memos from Leon's private collection. Insightful, emotionally charged anecdotes from actors, family, crew members, and key film industry professionals who worked with Kubrick and Leon add an important layer of detail and impact to the story. Filmworker enters the world of Leon Vitali and Stanley Kubrick from a...

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Plot Keywords:

behind the scenes | film director | vhs cover | foley artist | casting | 

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Taglines:

The remarkable, untold story of Leon Vitali who gave up fame and fortune to serve for decades as Stanley Kubrick's right-hand man.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 2018 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Filmworker

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,984, 13 May 2018

Gross USA:

$102,609

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$112,828

Company Credits

Production Co:

True Studio Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 58 min (TV)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Barry Lyndon (1975)

User Reviews

20 Years A Slave

I thought this film really shone a spotlight on the sad consequences of a career decision made by Leon Vitali and was one of the most severe indictments on Stanley Kubrick as a person.

A few years after appearing as Lord Bullingdon in Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Vitali abandoned what we are led to believe was a promising acting career to work full-time (and then some) for Kubrick himself.

Whether Vitali did have a promising acting career ahead of him is not really the point, my own feeling is that if his performance in Barry Lyndon is anything to go by then an illustrious career in front of the camera was by no means guaranteed.

The real story here is the level of devotion that Vitali gave to his new career and the price he paid for it; neglecting his family and the detrimental effect the extreme workload had on his health. Vitali looks like a walking corpse and has done for many years.

This problem could have been easily solved if the very wealthy Kubrick had dug a little deeper into his pocket and employed another two or three assistants to share the workload but apparently this never happened. And the fact that Vitali has had to rely on financial support from his children clearly indicates that not only did Kubrick pay him a low salary he also left Vitali very little, if anything, in his will. Kubrick comes across as a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge.

At least Dolores Claiborne was eventually rewarded for going above and beyond the call of duty, Vitali just seems to have been exploited and taken for granted by Kubrick for 20 years.

Kubrick must have had some special kind of charisma to treat Vitali this way and still have him coming back for more. Or maybe Vitali is just downright stupid.

Viewers will decide for themselves.