'De Palma' documents iconic director's greatness, cool personality

Brian De Palma has long been one of my all-time favorite directors but I feel like he never gets the respect he deserves, so I was thrilled when I learned that directors Jake Paltrow and Noam Baumbach were making an extensive probe into his work.

After seeing it last night I can happily say it doesn't disappoint.

If you're a dedicated De Palma fan like me, it's required viewing; and if you're merely curious about what makes the man tick, it's a terrific experience too.

It's a movie buff's dream and a character study of a droll, thoughtful and brutally honest man.

Some film snobs would have you think that De Palma is simply a Hitchcock rip-off artist -- or worse a tawdry sexist. That would be a huge underestimation of his talents. Sure, some of his films are dismal failures -- he'd be the first to admit that -- but he almost always takes bold risks and does something really interesting with the camera, which I can only say is true of about a half a dozen directors right now.

The film De Palma makes a brilliant choice -- the only talking head is the director himself. He sits comfortably, sometimes gazing upwards but always articulate and witty, working his way through each of his film's in chronological order while injecting bits of his biography and on-set gossip.

In theory, this should be a bore -- but the reality is that De Palma is a very engaging storyteller (which shouldn't be a surprise if you've seen his films) and Baumbach and Paltrow do an amazing job of integrating just the right footage from his films into the narrative so you can feel the visceral excitement of the man's work.

De Palma in De Palma

De Palma himself is bemused by the controversy of some of his films, and the audience rejection of others. But he also comes across as someone who is happy to march to the beat of his own drum, even as his work was often out of the step with the trajectory of pop culture.

He returns to the theme of 'watching' again and again -- watching Hitchcock's Vertigo (which has a profound effect on him as an aspiring filmmaker), watching Robert De Niro (who he discovered) blossom into a movie star before his eyes, watching his father cheat on his mother (he spied on his dad and at one point confronted him with a knife).

In the end, De Palma is both observer and participant in his own life, now finding himself on the other side of 70 years old, and wondering -- how did I get here?

It's funny -- when I read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, as cool as I thought De Palma was as a filmmaker, I was stunned to hear him described as something of a ladies man. But when you watch this documentary, in a weird way it's easy to see why. He has a kind of unique charisma. He's cocky in a charming way and self-deprecating in a confident way that I really admire.

In his heyday, he was seen as someone who slummed in the B-movie genres of horror, gangster epics and thrillers -- but today his best work holds up just as well as his more celebrated peers Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg and Scorsese.

Top 10 essential De Palma:

Sisters (1973)
In many ways this is the first prototypical De Palma movie. A bizarre slasher film about Siamese twins (one is evil, one is not) that is bloody and not entirely comprehensible. Expert use of split screen and the director's trademark sarcastic black humor is present throughout.

Carrie (1976)
De Palma's first big hit is a surprisingly touching version of the Stephen King bestseller, largely thanks to Sissy Spacek's very sympathetic performance in the lead role of an abused, lonely high schooler who happens to have the ability to move things with her mind. The ending is a real grabber -- if you've seen it, you know what I mean.

The Fury (1978)
A really underrated supernatural thriller in my opinion -- which covers some of the same terrain as Carrie, but this time it's two youngsters with supernatural powers instead of one. There are some bravura sequences in this over-the-top movie and a great turn from John Cassavetes as a ruthless villain. Gets a bad wrap, but I've always loved it.

Dressed to Kill (1980)
The beginning of a more sexually graphic and intentionally provocative phase for De Palma. The plot of this homage to Psycho, involving a transsexual killer, is problematic by today's standards -- but there are so many dynamic chases and shots in this movie is can't be easily dismissed. Another classic that the critics came around to too late.

Blow Out (1981)
One of De Palma's most acclaimed films (it's a favorite of Tarantino's) and rightly so. It's one of his more personal thrillers -- about a movie sound guy (played very effectively by John Travolta) who stumbles upon a murder scene and earnestly tries to solve it. The movie's downbeat ending would probably never pass muster today. This feels like of the last great '70s films that snuck in under the wire.

Scarface (1983)
The oft-parodied and quoted Al Pacino vehicle is certainly not subtle, but it wasn't intended to be. It's as gaudy and uncouth as its main character -- and I like it that way. Even though the production barely shot there, this movie feels like an authentic glimpse of Miami in the early 1980s and Pacino gives a totally liberated, balls-to-the-wall performance that elevates this material to masterpiece status,

The Untouchables (1987)
De Palma's first huge blockbuster doesn't eschew his trademark camerawork and deliberate action set pieces. What could have been a cheesy big screen reboot of a TV show is an exciting, expertly acted thrill ride, which has long been a favorite of mine. If you've ever wondered why Kevin Costner was a movie star, this would be a great place to start.

Casualties of War (1989)

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible

Underrated and little seen, this harrowing Vietnam war film tells the true story of the gang rape of a native girl by a group of U.S. soldiers and the whistleblower who chose not to participate. Difficult to watch at times but also powerful (Michael J. Fox holds his own in a dramatic role, while Sean Penn chews up the screen in one of his best early roles) and thought-provoking. This is a movie that deserves revisiting.

Carlito's Way (1993)
Quite possibly my favorite De Palma film -- a movie that has always really effected me -- about a just released from prison Puerto Rican gangster (beautifully played by Al Pacino) trying to go straight, but who keeps getting dragged into trouble by his unscrupulous friend (a barely recognizable Sean Penn in a great, eccentric turn). The whole movie comes together perfectly with a devastating finale.

Mission: Impossible (1996)
De Palma's biggest commercial success to date launched a huge franchise and reaffirmed Tom Cruise's viability as an action star. It's hard to believe this film came out 20 years ago, it actually feels the most like a spy movie of all the Ethan Hunt films, and while effects and stunts have gotten even more elaborate since its release, the break in at the vault in Langley, is still an all-time classic.