Filmworker
Description
Tony Zierra’s compelling and compassionate film is a portrait of Leon Vitali, who for many years served as Stanley Kubrick’s devoted right-hand man, often at the expense of his own personal health and welfare. He is also a repository of great stories and esoteric knowledge about his former employer and (sometimes) friend. A regular on British television in the early 1970s, Vitali was cast in Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and, as shooting came to an end, asked the director for a job. This led him to a 20-year stint as factotum to a meticulous, mercurial, but undeniably brilliant director who demanded loyalty and endless work hours without much recompense. Nearing 70 and a touch shell-shocked from the experience, Vitali nevertheless exudes fondness toward Kubrick, and there’s a glint in his eye whether he’s talking about examining film prints frame by frame for signs of degradation, casting the role of Danny in The Shining, or looking after Stanley’s cats. Zierra interweaves Vitali’s reminiscences with illuminating excerpts from Kubrick’s films, behind-the-scenes footage, and tributes to Vitali’s exemplary work ethic from film historians and actors including Ryan O’Neal, Matthew Modine, and R. Lee Ermey.
Tony Zierra has been interested in film since he was a child. He’s taken film classes at NYU, Texas A&M, and UCLA. His first documentary, Carving Out Our Name (2001) profiles several aspiring actors (including Wes Bentley and Brad Rowe) trying to make it in Hollywood. My Big Break (2009) reworks the story to focus more specifically on the relationship each actor has to the movie business. Zierra includes himself and his struggles in this version of the film. For Filmworker, as with most of his other work, Zierra serves as producer, editor, and cinematographer, as well as director.
Film Details
Language English
Year 2017
Runtime 94
Country USA
Director Tony Zierra
Producer Tony Zierra, Elizabeth Yoffe
Editor Tony Zierra
Cinematographer Tony Zierra
Cast Leon Vitali
Print Source Kino Lorber