Film Journal International had the privilege of attending a very special Rooftop Films/Piper-Heidsieck-sponsored screening last night at NYC’s Paley Center of Life Itself, the absorbing, poignant documentary about the life of Roger Ebert that premiered to acclaim at Sundance. Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) arrived just in time from a snowstorm-delayed flight to introduce this wide-ranging, unflinching account of the beloved Chicago film critic whose battle with thyroid cancer spurred a brave and remarkably productive new chapter in his life.
New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, who moderated a post-screening Q&A with James, Ebert’s widow Chaz and Ebert’s filmmaking friend Ramin Bahrani, accurately noted that Life Itself is many things: a biography, a portrait of Ebert’s hometown of Chicago and the world of film critics, a love story, and a tale of courage. James admitted that he initially “thought I’d rip off” Ebert’s memoir of the same name for this CNN Films adaptation, but the doc morphed into something quite different when Ebert fractured his hip shortly before filming began. The director had wanted to show how active and vibrant Ebert was despite the illness that forced the removal of his lower jaw and robbed him of the power of speech and the ability to eat or drink. Instead, the film became a chronicle of the last five months of his life, largely confined to a hospital bed but still able to watch films and make copious contributions to his blog at rogerebert.com. The scenes of Ebert being attended to with suction tubes and clearly in pain are uncomfortable to witness, but the man himself insisted that these intimate moments be included in the film.
Ebert’s dignified widow Chaz confided that the film is difficult for her to watch, but noted that she’s “glad it exists as a maintenance of Roger’s legacy.” Of the “unfettered access” she and her husband gave to James, she commented, “We’re not reality-TV people, but we trusted Steve” based on his past work as a documentarian, which Ebert often championed.
In a very touching moment, Chaz revealed that the previous day had been especially sad for her with the shocking news of the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Roger had told her if he were ever to be played in a movie, his ideal casting would have been the gifted Hoffman.
Life Itself is by no means just a mournful affair. It’s a richly entertaining look at a remarkable life, spanning from Ebert’s childhood and first taste of journalism as the prodigious editor of his college newspaper, to his hard-drinking days as part of the legendarily colorful Chicago newspaper fraternity (with priceless comments from some of those drinking buddies), to his startling collaboration with nudie director Russ Meyer on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, to the public-TV pairing with rival Chicago film critic Gene Siskel that eventually made him a household name. James expands on the book’s relatively brief section on Siskel, charting the complexities of a relationship that could be genuinely antagonistic but in time found its way to mutual respect and even love. The footage of outtakes of their hilarious bickering while doing TV promos for their show is alone worth the price of admission.
The movie also includes lively commentary from a host of friends and colleagues including directors Martin Scorsese (singularly diverting as ever), Werner Herzog and Errol Morris (who says he owes his career to Ebert’s eager support) and fellow critics Scott, Richard Corliss and Jonathan Rosenbaum. The devoted Chaz, with whom Ebert shared a life-changing bond, is not only a warm presence throughout, but an equally admirable example of courage and determination.
James revealed that Ebert only viewed a few short clips of interviews with his Chicago friends; Chaz said, “He knew he would never see the movie.” The fact that Roger Ebert did some of his most thoughtful and influential writing through a horrendous health crisis that would have defeated most of us is an inspiration, and that inspiration is bound to live on as this marvelous film finds a wider audience in 2014.
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