Plot from Imdb: "A fugitive stumbles on a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out, and falls for the leading lady."
Richard Rush, after his years documenting Hippie life, like in
Psych-Out, made this movie, that only can be described as a forgotten masterpiece.
A metafiction about cinema and the creative experience of a shooting set, it deals with the reality and illusion of our lives. Almost every characters in this movie invents themselves and lives in a dual reality/fiction world: the actors of the movie, but also the director, some of the crew and the general public of movies. And ourselves as viewers of the movie. The authorities will also be led in a false "world", only thanks to the will of the director. This "great Hollywood director" Eli Cross (played by Peter O'Toole and inspired by David Lean and John Huston) is really a great character: bigger than life, this god-like figure seems to model the all world around him, according to his will and interest of the moment. Even if the escape character has his life and freedom on the line, it looks like it's just another "game" for the director. Another character to be put in one of his illusion. The mixed sequences between the life of the main character and the shooting are great: it starts by a crash between those two seemingly irreconcilable worlds in the first "bridge sequence", where a criminal without anything to loose enters by accident the world of fake and play, the stuntman world, that's gonna be his way out...or maybe his fate.
Incredibly well shot, visually abundant, at moment, it touches genius. Unfortunately the movie is way too long and some scenes could have been cut or felt unnecessary or redundant. But this is really not important as the energy of the movie is so tremendous, it will blow your mind. Some scenes are as strong as some in a Frederico Fellini movie. Technically tremendous, scenaristically incredible, artistically marvellous, this amazing movie is to be discovered immediately by every movie fan.
PS: There is a two hours long documentary about the making of this movie called: "Sinister saga- the making of The Stuntman"...shot in this metafiction style, a cross between illusion and reality.
Trailer:
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