Click here to copy URL

Filmworker

2017

Tony Zierra

Documentary, Self: Leon Vitali, Stanley Kubrick, Ryan O'Neal ...

6.7

318

Documentary Leon Vitali, after his acclaimed performance as Lord Bullingdon in Stanley Kubrick’s 'Barry Lyndon', gave up fame and fortune to toil in obscurity for Kubrick's creative vision. For more than two decades, Leon played a crucial role behind-the-scenes helping Kubrick make and maintain his legendary body of work. The documentary explores their relationship.

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"An arresting cinemaniac documentary (...) The film has a special value: It ushers you into the world of how Kubrick put his movies together."	POS
United States	Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter	"A fascinating portrait of Stanley Kubrick's devoted aide de camp (...) Revealing"	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Grierson Screendaily	"An inability to crack the movie’s central mystery — why abandon your dreams to help facilitate someone else’s? — leaves the project feeling a bit like a missed opportunity."	NEU
United States	Ben Kenigsberg rogerebert.com	"Although it's great to hear Vitali's insights into Kubrick's personal manner (...) this is fundamentally the story of two men, and having only Vitali alive to talk to leaves the documentary with a lack of balance."	NEU
United Kingdom	Gwilym Mumford The Guardian	"A tender documentary (...) A revealing and stirring celebration of one of cinema’s unacknowledged heroes (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Michael Nordine IndieWire	"Much of the appeal comes from the prospect of juicy, firsthand details. Vitali doesn’t disappoint"	POS
United States	David Fear Rolling Stone	"[An] extraordinary documentary (...) A revealing look at how Kubrick's films were made"	POS

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.