Drew: The Man Behind the Poster

Erik Sharkey's 2013 documentary is about Drew Struzan, who painted the posters for films from Star Wars and Indiana Jones to Back to the Future and The Shawshank Redemption. His work became the visual form of a generation's memory of cinema, and yet his name often did not even appear on the poster. The documentary is at its best where it shows his method: the sketch, the reference photograph, the layers of paint, and why a poster is a composition rather than a collage. Its second line is how digital design erased that handwork from the market. George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro and Frank Darabont speak. The account stays in a register of admiration with no critical distance. Who it's for: viewers interested in poster design and the visual side of film history. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a critical portrait, or tired of talking-head documentaries.