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De Palma

Play trailer 1:56 Poster for De Palma R Released Jun 10, 2016 1h 48m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 114 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Filmmaker Brian De Palma discusses his body of work, including "Sisters," "Obsession," "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," "Scarface," "The Untouchables," "Carlito's Way" and "Mission: Impossible."
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De Palma

De Palma

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Critics Consensus

De Palma may not make believers out of the director's detractors, but they'll likely share longtime fans' fascination with his career's worth of entertaining stories.

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Critics Reviews

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Nigel Andrews Financial Times Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow are the co-directors of De Palma, a scrumptious documentary about the creator of Carrie and Scarface. Rated: 4/5 Dec 27, 2016 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) De Palma's work is explored in his own words, and his words only, uncluttered by talking heads and critical evaluations. And frankly, De Palma is such an entertaining and open raconteur, his words are all you need. Rated: 4/5 Sep 25, 2016 Full Review Geoffrey Macnab Independent (UK) The documentary convinces us of De Palma's logistical and visual flair -- his ability to choreograph astonishingly elaborate sequences and his pioneering use of Steadicam. Rated: 4/5 Sep 22, 2016 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review For any De Palma fan or anyone interested in learning more, this doc is essential viewing. Rated: 3.5/4 Apr 11, 2022 Full Review Victoria Luxford City AM Its the famous directors regrets that are most fascinatingly explored in this honest and tell-all documentary. Anyone interested in the philosophies of artistic endeavour will find this educational, but fans of De Palma's films will be in heaven. Rated: 4/5 Feb 18, 2022 Full Review Kip Mooney College Movie Review Part appreciation, part retrospective, part off-the-cuff film school, this is a consistently engaging documentary about one of America's great directors. Rated: A- Aug 28, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (73) audience reviews
David F A straightforward interview of the director as he talks about each of his films in turn. Every director should do a documentary like this. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/28/24 Full Review J M If you enjoy watching filmmakers discuss their thoughts, influences and inspirations behind the movies they make, you will most likely find something to appreciate in this candid discussion with Brian De Palma, a director who has reached the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. De Palma is very frank and candid, which is refreshing compared to many of the "politically correct" interviews attributed to these types of documentaries. It's fun to see brief audition reels from CARRIE and George Lucas' STAR WARS which occurred simultaneously. It's interesting to hear him talk about a difficult actor with whom he worked on one of his films during the mid-70s. And I loved hearing about the relationships he enjoyed with fellow directors Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Francis Coppola as they were all coming into power around the same time. It's fascinating to see the influence Hitchcock had on his films - and the comparisons made are certainly striking. If you like behind the scenes stuff like this, I definitely give this a recommendation, particularly if you are a fan of De Palma's work. - Jeff Marshall, Movie Blogger (Facebook) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/24 Full Review Alec B Brian De Palma is refreshingly frank here, completely unafraid to speak his mind on his career and those he's worked with. The result is a documentary that never feels like a puff piece. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review allen h He's more entertaining than his movies. Probably need to be a ciniphile to appreciate. Doubles as a history of the rise of the new talent of American film making. Should be required at every film school Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member If you're into career retrospective storytelling with the occasional film clip, this is the documentary for you. De Palma sits in a chair and talks shop for almost 2 hours. That's it. And it's awesome too. Listen to him talk about Body Double alone. Riveting. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/27/21 Full Review Audience Member Really the best documentary of all time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/17/20 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Brian De Palma discusses his body of work, including "Sisters," "Obsession," "Carrie," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," "Scarface," "The Untouchables," "Carlito's Way" and "Mission: Impossible."
Director
Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow
Producer
Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow
Distributor
A24
Production Co
Empire Ward
Rating
R (Sexual Content|Graphic Nudity|Some Language|Violent Images)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 10, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$163.4K
Runtime
1h 48m
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