Hollywood Mavericks

Especially Scorsese, Bogdanovich and Schrader (i.e. the filmmakers who are probably the most well versed in the film sciences) engagingly explain what it means to be a “maverick” in relation to film, which directors working in the United States deserve that designation and why their work is worthy of notice. There is not a single female among the selected filmmakers and the film itself doesn’t have a concept, so it examines directors of both silent and sound films, blockbusters and B-movies, independent and studio flicks, American and German directors. With the exception of Alan Rudolph, whose films I don’t know, these are men whom I admire, whether for their rebellious attitude to mass Hollywood production or for films through which they make it clear that they are unwilling to go along with the crowd. (12.12.2011)