or the Commodification of Backstage Narratives.
There is a distinct trajectory at work in the evolution of narratives surrounding the notions of the “magic of movie-making,” what could be otherwise considered the cinematic equivalent of Künstlerroman, or most simply the behind-the-scenes narrative, starting with prominent fictional and documentary examples like Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” in 1963, and Eleanor Coppola’s “Hearts of Darkness” in 1991, and ultimately crossing a threshold by the time of “Lost in La Mancha” in 2002 that leads directly into the widespread and arguably now-ubiquitous commercialized usage of it in modern promotion, home media release, etc.
It is worth noting that beyond the straight line towards the inception of behind-the-scenes documentaries, there is a larger and complex history of cinema about cinema that ranges from works equal to “Burden of Dreams” and “Hearts of Darkness” all the way to the more fun and light and even films such as 1998’s “Spice World” and “Burn Hollywood Burn.” There are distinct variations on this overall subgenre within film history, all of which evoke the idea of “peering behind the curtain” but do so for a variety of means. The lighthearted, glamorous and exaggerated version of the backstage narrative is commonly used in comedies or entries in the musical genre going back to early examples of Hollywood telling stories about itself, such as 1937’s “It Happened in Hollywood,” the widely known “Singin’ in the Rain,” and the musical adaptations of “A Star is Born” in the 50s and 70s or a lighter film that cribs from it like 2011’s “The Artist.” Then there are works that are more singular, personal psychological, and otherwise internalized within an individual artist character, a subset often influenced and arguably started by “8 ½ ” and including the Coens’ “Barton Fink” and “Ed Wood,” or metatextual commentaries on genre or the industry as a whole like “The Player” and “The Cabin in the Woods.” Finally, within documentary cinema emerged the “making-of,” which started as an examination of a film’s production with the intent of exploring and critiquing the filmmaker, likely first occurring with the aforementioned Les Blank’s 1982 examination of Werner Herzog in “Burden of Dreams, ” which was followed by “Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky” and possibly popularized by “Hearts of Darkness.”
“Hearts of Darkness” essentially functioned as a bridge between “Burden of Dreams” and mainstream consciousness, by applying similar thematic and narrative approach to a film and filmmaker with far greater public consciousness. Unto itself the film remained an artistic achievement and attention-getting in its singularity1This singularity being at its time and even then only seemingly due to the work’s precursors., while providing both an easy formula to follow henceforth (parallels between whatever prominent filmmaker at hand and the characters they’re attempting to explore) and exposure to the idea of there being appeal rather than dissatisfaction with seeing the particulars of the production process, even if it exposes unprofessionalism or idiosyncrasies of the industry.
As a result, the film’s success was a turning point, directing this material away from the hands of independent filmmakers or present family members (Coppola, and Vivian Kubrick in her “Making The Shining”) as well as the artistic potential in it, and towards an increasingly watered down tool for promotion, exemplified in “Full Tilt Boogie.” While that film in spite of itself provides some unique and interesting material, with both the union conflict element and the look at the everyday work and lives of those on the lowest rungs of Hollywood’s ladder, it’s a work whose spirit from the start is a “for fans only” addendum to “From Dusk Till Dawn” with no sense of having its own ideas or being a separate, conscious and cohesive film whatsoever. Its relationship with the other film is not one of direct engagement but as an extension of a product, a promotional tool that provides its thesis in literally starting with the trailer for “From Dusk Till Dawn” and never going any further than that. “Lost in La Mancha” furthers the phenomenon that “Boogie” represents the infancy of by being an outright pale imitation of “Burden” and “Hearts,” a shallow extension of the brand of a fine artist with no real sense of engagement with its material, akin to “Boogie’s” status as a long-form trailer.
The film doesn’t go in-depth with Gilliam as an artist, his ideas at work in his Don Quixote film, or his now rather publicly apparent personal failings (even while Burden showed a willingness to strongly criticize even from a personal friend of Herzog’s), and compared to the parallelism with Herzog’s film and character Fitzcarraldo, or Francis Coppola’s with Colonel Kurtz and the narratives of Apocalypse Now or its source novel Heart of Darkness, the relationship established between Gilliam and the Don Quixote character and his complex, massive story only engages with the material at the broadest possible level,2My personally resonant read of the novel, accounting for the parts published after the initial volume as well, was that it was less about a blundering fool than a man driven mad by the absurd injustice and horror of the world. not going beyond the most widely familiar archetype despite the actual social commentary of the novel being quite resonant to ideas explored by Gilliam in some of his finest works like “Brazil.” With “Lost in La Mancha’s” release coinciding with the emergence of prominent 21st century fantasy blockbusters like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises, and then the Marvel franchise, the evolution of behind-the-scenes narrative reaches its final point as extensive documentary footage existing purely as brand extension becomes a signature and grander phenomena throughout the last decade or so, with the occasional notable exception like the rather infamous emotional insights provided, unintentionally or not, in The Hobbit behind-the-scenes footage.
The industry’s self-indulgent and circular exploration of itself, consumption of these products, inspiration of new explorations and repetition of this process has only expanded further in its co-opting of what once was the widespread mystique of filmmaking, the sensation of only having what’s onscreen to perceive and neither the knowhow of its conception or the truth of the basic human nature of those in the elevated cultural position. Though this process in intent is pure commodification, in practice it has increased accessibility of knowledge about the culture and the technical work involved and thus potentially further democratized filmmaking.
This work has been revised and republished from a 2016 college essay.
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