Hal

Amy Scott's 2019 documentary is about the director Hal Ashby. He began as an editor and made a run of well-known films in the seventies, then found himself at odds with the studios in the eighties. The argument concerns the reason for that break. Ashby resisted interference with his cuts and went beyond the terms of his contracts; the narrative gives this not as personal disorder but as a matter to be read alongside the industry's change. Jane Fonda, Jon Voight and Lee Grant speak, and Ashby's letters and audio recordings are used. The narrative also reports his drug use and difficult working manner, and does not exalt him. Who it's for: those who like American cinema of the seventies and portraits of directors. Who it's not for: viewers who do not know Ashby's films; the documentary proceeds through constant clips.