A maniac with a camera reflects on being too wild for Hollywood to handle.
The inevitable fat cigar between his fingers, the American actor, director and fine artist Dennis Hopper (1936) self-mockingly looks back on his chequered life and career, at the request of Dutch director, photographer and fine artist Thom Hoffman. The latter sifted through the turbulent life story of Hopper, who is primarily known from the cult film Easy Rider (1969). Hopper went through as many high as low points. In conveniently arranged chapters, Hoffman shows the decisive moments in Hopper's life and asks colleagues like Wim Wenders, David Lynch, Sean Penn and Julian Schnabel to comment on them. The documentary is richly illustrated with film excerpts, photos, newspaper articles and anecdotes. The main reason for this film was the retrospective of Dennis Hopper's art work in the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum in 2001.
Acting
Hopper performs himself—unreliable, magnetic, impossible to look away from.
Production
Art museum origins give this doc an elegant frame for messy subject matter.
Director
Thom Hoffman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Thom Hoffman was primarily known as an actor in Paul Verhoeven films before pivoting to this directorial portrait of another actor-director hybrid.
The 2001 Stedelijk Museum retrospective that spawned this film helped rehabilitate Hopper's reputation from 'cult film burnout' to 'serious multimedia artist'—a reinvention he clearly relished performing.
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