As documentaries go, I thought it was very enjoyable.
I saw it at a film festival last year; a friend of mine was one of the people interviewed for the picture. Afterwards, I met the director and asked him a lot of questions - he was gracious and very nice. He frankly told me that Al Pacino was contacted but declined to be in the film. Sidney Lumet did agree to appear, and was very interesting.
In a way, the film rather reminded me of Maximilian Schell's documentary on Marlene Dietrich - he tried to make a film about a famous subject, but she would not cooperate. So he filmed around her and wound up with an even more interesting documentary.
This director did the same. John Wojtowitz wanted $28,000 to appear in the film, but the director could only offer $10,000. Mr. Wojtowitz was not needed in the end anyway. The story behind Dog Day Afternoon was bizarre enough to warrant a documentary, but that wasn't the director's idea - he wanted to present the "true story" behind a films that was based on a "true story" - and wound up showing that no matter how true to the events the Hollywood version was, it really didn't represent the truth. John Wojtowitz was portrayed in the film as a likable person and something of a hero. He robbed a bank just to get money because he didn't want his boyfriend to die - his boyfriend had attempted suicide many times because he couldn't afford a sex change. In reality, Wojtowitz was a vulgar opportunist, a low-class loser, and more than a little greedy. The director made his movie, the truth came out, and the "Hollywood" version was shown up on a tiny little budget.
Brilliant.
I saw it at a film festival last year; a friend of mine was one of the people interviewed for the picture. Afterwards, I met the director and asked him a lot of questions - he was gracious and very nice. He frankly told me that Al Pacino was contacted but declined to be in the film. Sidney Lumet did agree to appear, and was very interesting.
In a way, the film rather reminded me of Maximilian Schell's documentary on Marlene Dietrich - he tried to make a film about a famous subject, but she would not cooperate. So he filmed around her and wound up with an even more interesting documentary.
This director did the same. John Wojtowitz wanted $28,000 to appear in the film, but the director could only offer $10,000. Mr. Wojtowitz was not needed in the end anyway. The story behind Dog Day Afternoon was bizarre enough to warrant a documentary, but that wasn't the director's idea - he wanted to present the "true story" behind a films that was based on a "true story" - and wound up showing that no matter how true to the events the Hollywood version was, it really didn't represent the truth. John Wojtowitz was portrayed in the film as a likable person and something of a hero. He robbed a bank just to get money because he didn't want his boyfriend to die - his boyfriend had attempted suicide many times because he couldn't afford a sex change. In reality, Wojtowitz was a vulgar opportunist, a low-class loser, and more than a little greedy. The director made his movie, the truth came out, and the "Hollywood" version was shown up on a tiny little budget.
Brilliant.