Posted By: JJ_Gittes
I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale - 11/24/09 11:16 AM
I discovered the existence of this little HBO doco about John Cazale early last week looking at IMDB.
Then, in a bizarre, but lucky, coincidence, on Thursday night we were flipping through the channels & caught the credits of something that looked interesting (it was Steve Buscemi referring to his cameo in The Simpsons), my missus checked the TV guide - "Rediscovering John... Cazail...?". Fortunately it was repeated on Sunday afternoon. (ABC TV in Australia)
It's a very short, simple doco (45min), with interviews from his peers - Al Pacino, Meryl Streep (his long-time partner), Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet & so on. Doesn't descend into too much sentimentality, despite it being something of a sad story (Cazale died aged 42 from lung cancer, before the Deer Hunter was released). Focuses on his talent as an actor, & the subtlety with which he made all his characters very real. It made me realise how much depth he gave to the less-than-glamorous role of Fredo - as actor Sam Rockwell points out in the documentary, any actor would want to play Vito, Sonny or Michael.
He only ever appeared in three other films apart from the GF & GF Part II - The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon & The Deer Hunter. Most actors would count themselves lucky to have one of those five films on their CV, let alone all of them. As a film actor, he's basically got a 100% record. 5 classics, no turkeys.
Definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
Incidentally, the title of the doco (I Knew It Was You) went over my head when I first read about it on IMDB, it was then clarified in the documentary as Michael's line to Fredo on New Year's Eve in Cuba - but I always thought he said, "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart."
Figure this is the best place anywhere to ask - 'knew' or 'know'?
Then, in a bizarre, but lucky, coincidence, on Thursday night we were flipping through the channels & caught the credits of something that looked interesting (it was Steve Buscemi referring to his cameo in The Simpsons), my missus checked the TV guide - "Rediscovering John... Cazail...?". Fortunately it was repeated on Sunday afternoon. (ABC TV in Australia)
It's a very short, simple doco (45min), with interviews from his peers - Al Pacino, Meryl Streep (his long-time partner), Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet & so on. Doesn't descend into too much sentimentality, despite it being something of a sad story (Cazale died aged 42 from lung cancer, before the Deer Hunter was released). Focuses on his talent as an actor, & the subtlety with which he made all his characters very real. It made me realise how much depth he gave to the less-than-glamorous role of Fredo - as actor Sam Rockwell points out in the documentary, any actor would want to play Vito, Sonny or Michael.
He only ever appeared in three other films apart from the GF & GF Part II - The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon & The Deer Hunter. Most actors would count themselves lucky to have one of those five films on their CV, let alone all of them. As a film actor, he's basically got a 100% record. 5 classics, no turkeys.
Definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
Incidentally, the title of the doco (I Knew It Was You) went over my head when I first read about it on IMDB, it was then clarified in the documentary as Michael's line to Fredo on New Year's Eve in Cuba - but I always thought he said, "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart."
Figure this is the best place anywhere to ask - 'knew' or 'know'?