John Cazale did five films and then tragically passed away from lung cancer. When you lament the early loss of a Phillip Seymour Hoffman, you at least have the comfort of a significant body of work, 60 plus films even in his too short life.
Cazale had 5. And not one was Pirate Radio.
The Godfather II
The Conversation
The Deer Hunter
This documentary, available on Youtube and Tubi, remembers Cazale through the interviews of directors and actors who worked with him (Coppola, Lumet, DeNiro, Pacino, Hackman, Dreyfus) as well as Meryl Streep, who was his lover and co-star on his last picture, The Deer Hunter. We also get insights from character actors like Hoffman, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi, guys who are used to doing a lot with a little in terms of screen time.
A tight 40 minutes, the documentary is a taut and moving remembrance with specificity. Hoffman, Buscemi, and Rockwell are particularly incisive in highlighting certain choices Cazale made in pivotal scenes, and the observations of Coppola and Lumet on the “I’m not dumb, like everybody says” scene in Godfather II is fantastic. A really great watch.
filmvetter 