The screening I saw on Sept. 8, 2014 was introduced by director Volker Schlondorff himself. Before I discuss the film, which I loved, let me share a few points from the intro.
Schlondorff asked Wilder in the latter's apartment why his collection of works by Egon Schiele were laid out in a hallway with their faces toward the wall. "Otherwise the housekeeper would be offended," Wilder replied.
When Wilder sold his art collection at Christie's for $32 million USD, he told Schlondorff, "I just made more money in ten minutes than I did in my entire career."
When the film was finished and an offer was on the table from the BBC to screen it, Wilder asked the director to view the film with him. When it was over, Wilder objected to being depicted answering a phone call, chewing gum, scratching his back and sliding back and forth in his chair and asked Schlondorff not to show it in his lifetime. Schlondorff went ahead and showed it anyway and was soon summoned back to California by Wilder's legal team to settle matters. The issue was resolved amicably, but the film was not to be shown in the United States for some time.
The film itself is a complete retrospective of Wilder's career from his work on "People on Sunday" through "The Apartment." Therein lies the only fault I find with this film: at roughly three hours it is far too short! Not a word about Cagney and "One, Two, Three," not a word about the disaster of "Kiss Me, Stupid," not a word about Matthau and Lemmon in "The Fortune Cookie" nor "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes."
But what is there is fascinating. And there is a little scene with Matthau and Lemmon depicting a couple of writers at work (presumably Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond and written by them as well) that is worth the price of admission.
By way of explanation for the abrupt finish, Wilder is shown saying, (I'm paraphrasing) "After you make 5, 6, 7 films that people love and will be shown forever, that's enough."
Three hours with you, Billy Wilder, is never enough.
Schlondorff asked Wilder in the latter's apartment why his collection of works by Egon Schiele were laid out in a hallway with their faces toward the wall. "Otherwise the housekeeper would be offended," Wilder replied.
When Wilder sold his art collection at Christie's for $32 million USD, he told Schlondorff, "I just made more money in ten minutes than I did in my entire career."
When the film was finished and an offer was on the table from the BBC to screen it, Wilder asked the director to view the film with him. When it was over, Wilder objected to being depicted answering a phone call, chewing gum, scratching his back and sliding back and forth in his chair and asked Schlondorff not to show it in his lifetime. Schlondorff went ahead and showed it anyway and was soon summoned back to California by Wilder's legal team to settle matters. The issue was resolved amicably, but the film was not to be shown in the United States for some time.
The film itself is a complete retrospective of Wilder's career from his work on "People on Sunday" through "The Apartment." Therein lies the only fault I find with this film: at roughly three hours it is far too short! Not a word about Cagney and "One, Two, Three," not a word about the disaster of "Kiss Me, Stupid," not a word about Matthau and Lemmon in "The Fortune Cookie" nor "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes."
But what is there is fascinating. And there is a little scene with Matthau and Lemmon depicting a couple of writers at work (presumably Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond and written by them as well) that is worth the price of admission.
By way of explanation for the abrupt finish, Wilder is shown saying, (I'm paraphrasing) "After you make 5, 6, 7 films that people love and will be shown forever, that's enough."
Three hours with you, Billy Wilder, is never enough.
