I don't wanna see some young punk shit director discuss Vittorio De Sica or Ingmar Bergman. I love when great contemporary directors are discussed by OTHER contemporary directors, not the flavor of the week (which probably tastes like shit anyway).
if its the all-too-common sort of fatuous praise-mongering, that's a waste.
but when discerning folks, whoever they may be, start breaking down that particular director or actor's craft, giving us insight
or historical context, anecdotes of their handling of the set, or actors, or dealing with producers/mgmt, that's the good stuff.
It doesn't bother me. What does amuse me about it sometimes is when as the OP says the new director is a flavour of the month who hasn't proved themselves yet long term and they discuss a film or director etc in a way that makes them sound like they have achieved the same status.
I am also bored with old(er) films having modern ideology applied to them. In 20 years time the WOKE films of today will be seen as a joke or backward. Meanwhile people will still be watching John Wayne.
On a related note, I recall seeing Lauren Bacall on a talk show and she was asked if Jennifer Aniston was a movie star and Lauren was adamant about Jennifer not being in that league. I think it would be difficult for any contemporary actor or director to compete with the Golden years of Hollywood.
Here's one I came by randomly… "Trespassing Bergman".. Of course, there are no movies of Bergman on Amazon nor Netflix (pieces of shit). And the other two documentaries on Amazon are "Not Available" (This is how Jeff Bozos makes his money). There is this fella, Daniel Espinosa, who goes on and on (while looking at Bergman's library of VHS tapes) and saying "Oh we watched Ghostbusters.. It says 'Rental fee paid', so he paid for this. But what are you gonna do about it? "I'm Bergman" (and other awkward crap).
Wes Anderson goes on a soliloquy about how Americans pronounce Max von Sydow, and how the Swedish pronounce it (properly).
Of course to appear "metaphysical", they introduce Martin Scorsese in what is a premature recording. He's getting his seat arranged, is asking inane questions (nothing to do with Bergman), then starts to ask "What is this for?" and asks which company they're working for (as if he just flew to Sweden without knowing this information). Then goes on that he might not know the chronology of his work (so enlightening).
Then I see Ang Lee, who made the movie "Hulk"… Michael Haneke said something I don't even remember, maybe commenting on the carpet. "Funny Games"…. I'm guessing Claire Denis is a director, but she goes on saying how she hopes there are no dogs, and stops short of saying that she would have to leave Faro Island if there were.
Robert De Niro says "If you ask me six months from now about his work, I'll be more prepared. I would have an answer for possible questions you ask me".
Again, as I said numerous times, a documentary is 90 minutes long. 1/4 of it will be spent on watching people take airplanes, cars, walking, taking their shoes off and putting on slippers because the owners of the place prefer it that way. So there's only a few minutes, and its spent on ridiculous non-Bergman stuff, by those who are not his contemporaries in any way.
Woody Allen is in this, and he's always had a love for Bergman.. Fine. Show more of him.
One Swedish director is curious about one porno movie (Emannuelle) in a library of hundreds of videos. Even towards the end when he has a second chance to say something meaningful, he observes and becomes fascinated with "Ingmar Bergman's fuse box".. Then in another room he finds a cane.. "Ingmar used this during his dancing days, when he would dance the Charleston…. before becoming a Nazi". He thinks he's funny, too, but comes off as ridiculous. Lars von Trier is obsessive and repetitive about masturbation. He kept saying "I'm sure Ingmar sat here and masturbated like crazy.. I'm sure he had a small vesicle, but I'm sure he masturbated so much in this room" (I guess Ingmar is the only one who masturbated).. Lars then goes on and on.. "Ingmar vomits, just like we vomit. He $hits like we $hit.".. Speaking of shaise, Wes goes on to say "This is a strange place to have a toilet". Even the Swedish director goes all around the library and says, "Why would anyone want to have this many movies". John Landis says how "The Seventh Seal becomes hard to watch because it has been parodied so much, you know with Death as a character".. Of course he'd say something stupid like this, because he doesn't have the imagination or creativity to come up with an idea like that. If only Bergman could have directed a masterpiece like "Three Amigos". At one point, he even says (thinking of "The Virgin Spring").. "Wait a minute, this seems like a medieval movie about revenge. Wait a minute, it IS a medieval movie about revenge" – what a "genius". Ridley Scott names one of Bergman's movies and asks out loud "I wonder if this was naive" - but offers no explanation of what the hell he is talking about.
Some director with the surname of Payne says how "The Seventh Seal" doesn't hold up. Not only wasn't this guy alive when the movie came out, but he should realize the movie is full of universal themes that anyone can understand, even if it centered around the plague in Europe around 800 years ago. Right after, it cuts to a new scene (I wonder if this was intentional) where Woody Allen says "It helps to know history, philosophy".. Again with limited time, they should have used more of his interview, and cut the others out. If this was made today, they wouldn't have included Woody at all, because Twitter doesn't like him.
This was a random viewing experience. I had revisited a lot of Bergman movies, mostly ones I had already seen, and the documentary proves my point. I could be even more descriptive, but my old computer keeps freezing up, and this is taking way too long to type out.
It seems to me that your problem is more with the documentary filmmakers and not so much non contemporary directors discussing great contemporary directors? It appears that you are not happy with what was shown in this one documentary?That's totally fair and a very worthy criticism. Even if they say they don't, documentary filmmakers have an agenda. In the OP you seem to be blaming the directors that were interviewed, and not the directors of the documentary who are the ones who ask the questions and along with the editors choose what is in the final product.
I guess its a bit of both.. The director and/or producer chooses which directors, but in the case of the documentary example I mentioned, it was also, a bit of both. The directors interviewed mostly said 90% effete trash. I also think that even a lousy director couldn't have screwed up the Woody Allen interview. I think they didn't use him enough, maybe they cut out some good bits, but still, even if they show a small portion, someone who has knowledge and opinions will come off good, and Woody did. In this case, I would definitely blame the director for choosing what they did. When the film is rolling, those being interviewed have to do certain menial things, but the discretion is at the director and producer.