Chrisam Films - A Fuller Life (2013)
Cinephiles around the world know Samuel Fuller, the great American director to whom we owe the masterpieces “Pickup on South Street” (1953), “Shock Corridor” (1963) or “White Dog” (1982). However, many people are unaware of the many facets of this man investigative journalist as a teenager; freelancer traveling the roads of the United States; provocative screenwriter and director in Hollywood; but also filmmaker exiled in France and war hero… Calling on a wide range of her father's collaborators and fellow travelers, from James Franco to William Friedkin, to read from his autobiography, the filmmaker Samantha Fuller evokes the inimitable voice and spirit of her father, the legendary writer-director Sam Fuller. Shot entirely within “The Shack,” as Fuller called the backyard writing refuge he filled with notes for future projects, the film follows Fuller on his path from New York tabloid journalist to Hollywood hyphenate including his formative experiences as an infantryman in World War II. A FULLER LIFE celebrates the independent spirit of a true American maverick whose unique output broke new ground in journalism, filmmaking, storytelling and even service to his country, a newspaperman who enlisted in the army to “cover the biggest crime story of the century”. The story takes us through highlights of Samuel Fuller's unconventional and adventurous life spanning a century of American history, a great man's great yarn, a love song to democracy, and an hymn to independence, originality, and endurance. Adapted from Sam Fuller's award-winning autobiography 'A Third Face', the film consists of 12 segments, each of which features an admirer of Sam's dramatising their interpretation of Sam's memoirs. Set in the late director's historic office, the cast channels Fuller amid his beloved Royal typewriter, massive collection of books, screenplays, treatments, war memorabilia, and, of course, the ever-present big fat cigar. Among the line-up of contributors are Jennifer Beals, Bill Duke, James Franco, Mark Hamill, Wim Wenders and Tim Roth, and all the speakers, keen fans or collaborators, are filmed surrounded by the director's artefacts, some taking to puffing on the big cigars that were a Fuller trademark. Along with previously unseen home movie footage, drawings and other materials, there are clips from the magnificent films, with the likes of “Park Row” (1952) and “Underworld USA” (1961) used to illustrate Fuller's time as a newspaper crime reporter, while “Fixed Bayonets!” (1951) and “The Big Red One” (1980) show how his experiences in World War II informed his work A FULLER LIFE presents for the first time recently discovered 16mm films shot by Fuller, footage he shot on the front lines during World War II as well as location scouts and home movies. Every word spoken in this documentary, whether by a performer or from a clip of one of his films, was written by him, creating a posthumous self-portrait of the subject in his own words. This is a warm and inventive tribute to one of the true beacons for independent filmmaking. Based on Samuel Fuller’s autobiography “A Third Face.”
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