'Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction' is a close look at a quiet actor
Harry Dean Stanton is a marvelous actor and, at least from a visual standpoint, a marvelous camera subject. He鈥檚 not much of a talker, though. This presents a problem for first-time documentary filmmaker Sophie Huber.
In 鈥淗arry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction,鈥� she attempts to turn Stanton鈥檚 ornery taciturnity into an almost Zen state. She films him as if she were making a movie by, say, Wim Wenders or David Lynch, both of whom have directed Stanton. Huber鈥檚 ethereal moodiness can be annoying but, in spite of itself, the film is bracing.
Stanton has been in movies as diverse as 鈥淎lien鈥� and 鈥淧aris, Texas,鈥� and, along with clips from those films, we also see memorable moments from 鈥淩epo Man鈥� and 鈥淐ool Hand Luke.鈥� (I wish 鈥淭he Rose鈥� and 鈥淪traight Time鈥� had also been prominently featured.) It鈥檚 a truism, reinforced here, that actors often are the last to comprehend how they do what they do. No matter. What they give us is all that counts. Grade: B- (Unrated.)
