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Six and a half years ago filmmaker Les Blank, best known for his legendary Burden of Dreams (1982), a doc about the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, took part in a Santa Barbara Film Festival panel discussion about documentary filmmaking. I don't remember what Blank said (a video of the discussion sits below), but I do recall his decision to lay out DVDs of his films on a blanket outside the theatre and offer them for sale.

The fact that Burden of Dreams is now free on Hulu indicates that it's not exactly a hot-selling Criterion Collection title. It is nonetheless one of the most stirring making-of-a movie docs ever made. It is arguably equal to Fitzcarraldo itself, as both films deal with a white man's manic obsession and borderline lunacy in a remote South American jungle, and how it impacts a native culture. Klaus Kinski's Fitzcarraldo = Werner Herzog = Fitzcarraldo and back again.

In my book BOD is in the same realm as George Hickenlooper 's Hearts of Darkness, Laurent Bouzereau's two-hour-long "making of Jaws" doc (i.e., originally included on a Jaws special edition laser disc in the '90s, re-appeared on a 30th anniversary Jaws DVD that came out in '05) and Charles Lauzarika's Tricks of the Trade, an innovative 71-minute doc about the making of Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 3, 2010 at 5:35 AM

comment #1

Hip Hop Homey says ...

Who cares if it is streaming free. Maybe a few folks will watch it just for that and get turned on to great docs, Herzog, Kinski and Blank. FWIW, I saw BURDEN before I saw FITZ and prefer it.

Posted by Hip Hop Homey at August 3, 2010 7:27 AM

comment #2

MrTribeca says ...

I'd agree with all those choices. Particularly "Tricks Of The Trade", which was far superior to the film it was about.

Personally, I'd add to that list two great docs about Terry Gilliam projects - Lost In La Mancha, about the aborted attempt to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and The Hamster Factor And Other Tales About Twelve Monkeys.

Posted by MrTribeca at August 3, 2010 7:30 AM

comment #3

Hickenlooper says ...

"Who cares if it's streaming for free?" Who cares if someone breaks into your home and cleans out your refrigerator. Give me a break. Independent filmmakers rely on funds for our work so we can continue to make films? What planet are you on Hip Hop? Give me a break.

As far as 'Burden of Dreams' it was the main inspiration for 'Hearts of Darkness.' Without Blank's film, HofD would have been nothing more than a behind-the-scene look at how Francis blew up Do Long Bridge. Blank is a masterful filmmaker, probably the best documentary to come along in a generation. His understated work makes him the most powerful and honest documentary filmmaker there is. He avoid naval gazing at all costs and his work doesn't have that Pottery Barn sheen which afflicts most filmmakers today.

We actually licensed some footage from Les for 'Hearts of Darkness.' The entire Napa sequence at Francis' vineyard was shot by Les during the celebration of Coppola's 40th birthday party. I'd tell you this and more if Lionsgate were interested in Fax Bahr and I doing a commentary for the new Blu Ray but apparently they're not.

Posted by Hickenlooper at August 3, 2010 7:37 AM

comment #4

longrunner says ...

Don't forget Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner.

Posted by longrunner at August 3, 2010 7:44 AM

comment #5

Markj74 says ...

Those docs are all terrific. Another i'd add is Under Pressure: Making The Abyss, from the laserdisc special edition and DVD. Captivating behind the scenes footage, great talking heads and all capped off with Ed Harris, his eyes widening at recalling just what went on at that nuclear facility back in 1988. "I remember coming out of there the first day and sayin' 'Man, we are gonna be here a LONG time...'"

Posted by Markj74 at August 3, 2010 7:44 AM

comment #6

Markj74 says ...

@longrunner: Just watched Dangerous Days again this week, absolutely fantastic doc.

Posted by Markj74 at August 3, 2010 7:45 AM

comment #7

Eloi Wrath says ...

""Who cares if it's streaming for free?" Who cares if someone breaks into your home and cleans out your refrigerator. Give me a break. Independent filmmakers rely on funds for our work so we can continue to make films?"

Surely the guy gets paid royalties or something from Hulu? I'm sure they didn't just steal it and host it without permission. They probably paid the studio for the rights to use it, and the filmmaker got a chunk. Not much probably, but it was hardly Avatar in the first place.

Posted by Eloi Wrath at August 3, 2010 8:00 AM

comment #8

streeter says ...

Hickenlooper, I really wish you and Fax would just record the commentary yourself and put it up online. You'll probably have a lot more freedom than you would on the LionsGate disc - nobody to chop it up and take out things that they think might upset FFC.

Posted by streeter at August 3, 2010 8:00 AM

comment #9

Ponderer says ...

Burden of Dreams being on Hulu has NOTHING to do with its sales status. For All Mankind, which is one of the Criterion doc jewels, important enough to go straight to Blu-Ray, is also on Hulu. They're just experimenting. Che was up on Netflix streaming a month and a half before Criterion released the physical disc.

Posted by Ponderer at August 3, 2010 8:02 AM

comment #10

Absinth Quell Pro says ...

HIckenloper, the movie isn't being bootlegged. Hulu is a legitimate site with paid-for content.

Posted by Absinth Quell Pro at August 3, 2010 8:24 AM

comment #11

PRC says ...

The documentary on the Magnolia DVD is quite good.

Posted by PRC at August 3, 2010 8:31 AM

comment #12

Hip Hop Homey says ...

@Hick: Doesn't a commercial site like Hulu have to pay a fee to stream a film? my original point (probably not clear through my own fault) was to take aim at Wells' suggestion that BURDEN wasn't selling well, so that was why it was mad free. I just always assumed that when legit sites streamed media, there was some fees and/or royalties paid to those due them.

Posted by Hip Hop Homey at August 3, 2010 8:34 AM

comment #13

Hip Hop Homey says ...

Would really love for PTA to allow he TWBB making of doc to be eleased. there are a lot of rumors about hwy he doesn't want it released. But, you only have to look t the bevy of supplements of his first two films and then see how htat has been whittled away on everything after. the doc on MAGNOLIA IS great, but that is all we get. for TWBB, I have heard there is a feature length doc shot and that it was pulled for several reasons (the most concerning the first actor who played the role of Eli) including some personal confrontations that were captured. It's a shame because I think an honest doc about a class filmmaker can really up the appreciation that a lot of people have for the work that goes into what the audience sees up on that screen.

I enjoy the docs about Gilliam, too, but I am coming around to the idea that he HAS to have all of these distractions and problems when he works. He is unable to just make something without these problems, often caused by his own meddling.

Posted by Hip Hop Homey at August 3, 2010 8:41 AM

comment #14

Floyd Thursby says ...

Herzog's My Best Fiend is an excellent companion to Burden of Dreams, which is better than Fitzcarraldo, though I have a poster of the latter in my office.

Posted by Floyd Thursby at August 3, 2010 9:06 AM

comment #15

Markj74 says ...

Good call Floyd, My Best Fiend is a wonderful doc, hilarious and genuinely moving. One of Herzog's best.

Posted by Markj74 at August 3, 2010 9:36 AM

comment #16

Hickenlooper says ...

Jeff should lobby for Criterion to put out Hearts of Darkness. They are putting out my Peter Bogdanovich documentary on their new version of Last Picture Show. They should release Hearts of Darkness. I've asked them about it but no response. They showed interest in the past but said their was some objection from Coppola. This was before Paramount put it out. But now that it's coming out on BluRay, it would appear that Coppola no longer cares if it's out, so why not put it out on Criterion and do it the right way? You film buffs should lobby Criterion. I have great ancillary material to go along with it.

Posted by Hickenlooper at August 3, 2010 9:37 AM

comment #17

Carl LaFong says ...

I'd add The Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind, David Hinton's 1988 docu that succeeds in being far more engaging, informative and entertaining than the actual movie. Christopher Plummer's narration leans a bit on the stentorian on occasion, but it doesn't sugar-coast the machinations of late-30s Hollywood...

Posted by Carl LaFong at August 3, 2010 10:05 AM

comment #18

kingofnails says ...

Criterion is doing LAST PICTURE SHOW? Blu-ray? Awesome! I love how Hickenlooper drops these bombs like it ain't no thang.....

Posted by kingofnails at August 3, 2010 10:22 AM

comment #19

Absinth Quell Pro says ...

I thought Hearts was being released on that upcoming 3 disc Apocalypse BluRay... no?

Posted by Absinth Quell Pro at August 3, 2010 10:46 AM

comment #20

Ponderer says ...

"Criterion is doing LAST PICTURE SHOW? Blu-ray? Awesome! I love how Hickenlooper drops these bombs like it ain't no thang....."

Yeah, the buzz about that has been up on the Criterion insider forums for awhile. Apparently Criterion is doing a huge New Hollywood box set of films produced by Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson. The set will include Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces, King of Marvin Gardens, Drive, He Said, and mind-blowingly, Head (yes, the psychedelic Monkees movie co-written by Jack Nicholson).

Posted by Ponderer at August 3, 2010 11:48 AM

comment #21

Rich S. says ...

Wow. Watched Head on TCM Underground about a year ago. Not a good movie. Fun seeing Nicholson running around, though.

Posted by Rich S. at August 3, 2010 12:39 PM

comment #22

Ponderer says ...

It is a pretty awful movie, though with the exception of the Porpoise Song, it has some of the best music they ever did (a lot of what they did once they got out of the Don Kirshner umbrella was pretty fantastic, actually).

Posted by Ponderer at August 3, 2010 1:21 PM

comment #23