Running Time: 74 minutesDirected By: Jim McBride
Written By: Jim McBride
Main Cast: L.M. Kit Carson, Eileen Dietz, Lorenzo Mans, Louise Levine, Fern McBride
FILM IS TRUTH 24 TIMES A SECOND
I realize you probably all thought I got lost, but I still made it back within a matter of hours, just not the amount of hours I had hoped for. I watched "David Holzman's Diary" last night, but was too exhausted to write the review, so I'm here now.
The film is yet another experimental film, but this time the experiment goes a whole lot better, if you ask me. David Holzman (Carson) is a film fanatic living on the Upper West Side of New York City. When the film begins, David announces his plan to begin a video diary, capturing every minuscule moment of his life, so that he can "get it all down" and find out the truth about his being. He introduces us to his new pair of eyes - his camera and we're off. He begins filming on July 14, 1967 and films for approximately a week. Once he's told us of his initial idea, he then introduces us to his girlfriend Penny (Dietz) via photographs. Penny is a model and when she comes to the apartment later that evening, she wants nothing to do with David's diary. She storms out and the next day, David explains that he's called her and worked things out. The next day, Penny comes back to David's and as she's sleeping, in the middle of the night, he films her. She catches him and storms out a second time. David tries his best to phone Penny, while trying simultaneously to film and mic the conversation, but she wants nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, David also takes to the streets of NYC to shoot various people, most notable an Upper West Side cougar and a woman who lives across the street from David, whom he names Sandra.
While "David Holzman's Diary" didn't blow me away, it did intrigue me very much. While it may not get the most stellar of ratings, I have a feeling that this will be a movie that I'll be thinking about for some time and one that COULD become a favorite. The film is very intimate, as a lot of it is just David, sitting in a chair, in front of the camera and talking to us. There's also an element of voyeurism, as David film's his neighbor. Both are elements that usually work to intrigue me and this film was no exception. I think the underlying message or theme of "David Holzman's Diary" is simply taking a look at oneself from a different perspective. Here, David wanted to "get it all down" so that he could find out some kind of truth, that he thought he was missing. He wanted to view his life as an outsider and watch it unfold as he would a television program or a film. He wanted to see if he could somehow dissect his life and find something that he had been missing.SPOILER ALERT!
However, by the end of the film, David is jobless, without a girlfriend and under the realization that he's actually a pretty pathetic character. He lost the only thing he really had going for him, in Penny. He made desperate pleas to try and get her back. He lowered himself to following women on the Subway, until the finally turned around and told him to "beat it" and he lowered himself to peeping on "Sandra", another girl that he's seemed to have fallen in love with, without ever having any interaction with. Even the lady who answers at his message service seems to feel sorry for him when she tells him that Penny called and she wants him to stop calling her. He's a man who wants to feel important, like some of his favorite film director's, but you get the feeling that before he started filming himself, that he lead this unbelievably humdrum lifestyle. He dated Penny, but she rarely excited him. Even when he initially talks about her, he calls her vain and then recounts one minute detail about her that "touches him" and it seems that's really all she does that makes him happy. And then, in the end, he really realizes how vulnerable he is, when his apartment is broken into and all of his equipment is stolen. Maybe, that's the equivalent of killing off the character. I mean, like I said, this guy had nothing and you get the sense that filming his life was really the most excited he's been about something. And then it's all over.
RATING: 6.5/10 It's a movie where you can really dissect the character and it was a really good one. Why the low rating? Well, it seems appropriate...for now.
MOVIES WATCHED: 339
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 662
October 25, 2011 2:18pm
MMmm.. interesting. Yes, you do feel sorry for him, but in the nend, there is a word for this kind of beaviour and what he is up to - stalking. Penny and Sandra can get restaining orders on him, as he is a totaly, rather creepy, pain. It is SO dated to assume that a guy is justified in 'demanding' a woman be interested in him. Having the message serice sympathise with him is just him wanting others to support his dubious behaviour.
ReplyDeleteBut, once again, you have made me think again about a film I didn't take too.
Ok, I've thought about it.. sad people need understanding? True. End of thought.. He's still a sex pest and needs to learn to stop bothering women.
Ouch, sorry, that sounds rather heavily condeming..
Ray
I get what you're saying Ray, but I think it's easy to simply write him off as a pervert who needs to cool his jets before he's served with papers. To me, the character was, in every sense of the word, pathetic. He lost his job before he even got the idea to start filming, so we know he's a failure at certain aspects of his life. During the course of the film, he only really served to prove how pathetic he really is, by driving away his girlfried and peeping on his neighbor. The phone operator feels sorry for him, his friend tells him that his movie idea is stupid and in the end, he proves his vulnerability when his equipment is ripped off. A very interesting character in my view, one who believes he's destined for greatness, when really he's only destined for a possible visit to the psych ward.
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