Portrait of a '60% Perfect Man': Billy Wilder (1982)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A French film company interviews veteran Austrian-American director Billy Wilder in 1980, who by this point was in his mid-70s.Another reviewer points out that "there didn't seem to be a lot of direction by the interviewer and much of it was simply a stream of consciousness discussion by Wilder." Indeed, he answers the phone, talks about a bird cage and more or less just perambulates while the camera rolls.There are a few interviews with Wilder's actor friends, but this primarily means just Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau, causing the perspective to be rather limited. Of course, just an hour of Wilder talking about his career is interesting in itself, but if you are going to bring in others, why not bring in many more, flesh it out, even add a few minutes to the running time? It is nice to cover a bit of Wilder's influences, especially his early work with Ernst Lubitsch (a man who needs to be better known by modern audiences). And we get a retelling of the "Seven Year Itch" skirt story, which has become something of legend.

This is an extra included with the DVD set for "Ace in the Hole"--a wonderfully cynical Billy Wilder film about the power of the press. In "Portrait of a 60% Perfect Man", a French film company interviews veteran director Wilder who was now in his mid-70s. Oddly, there didn't seem to be a lot of direction by the interviewer and much of it was simply a stream of consciousness discussion by Wilder. Much of the time he just talked and talked and the film seemed to wander. Now this is NOT a bad thing--after all, Wilder was an interesting man who lived an exciting life.In addition to Wilder, there are a few interviews with his actor friends, but it only included Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau. Had more celebrities been on hand (such as Tony Curtis to ALSO talk about "Some Like It Hot" or William Holden), it would have been better and provided a more well-rounded film. As a result, while the film was interesting, it doesn't seem that definitive a study of the great director and his craft.By the way, watch Wilder throughout the film--it's kind of funny to see him and his body language--walking about one minute, laying in a hammock the next....it certainly was rather unconventional. Also, speaking of unconventional, pay close attention to him towards the end of the film--Wilder REALLY becomes cranky and rather funny. See this and see what I mean.