Hal Ashby‘s name is among the most respected names of Hollywood, including Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. However, Ashby is the unsung hero, whose compassionate and funny humanist dramas and gentle approach to directing endeared him to everyone he worked with.
Amy Scott‘s new documentary, “Hal,” tells the story of how Hal Ashby inspired Hollywood. Through on-screen interviews with Academy Award-winning actors Lee Grant, Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Jeff Bridges, directors such as Judd Apatow and Alexander Payne, and behind the camera colleagues Norman Jewison, Robert Towne, Haskell Wexler, and Pablo Ferro, we learn how they were empowered by Ashby and were granted collaborative freedom.
READ MORE: New Hal Ashby Doc Treads on ‘Hal’-lowed Ground [Review]
The film premiered in New York this past weekend and is set to play in Los Angeles this weekend, starting on September 14 and we are lucky enough to bring you an exclusive clip (watch below) from the film. The clip features interviewees commenting on how Ashby never received the recognition he deserved and the industry changed in the 1980’s.
As mentioned above, “Hal” is already playing in select theaters and will expand nationwide starting September 21.
Here is the official synopsis:
Although Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s—HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, COMING HOME, BEING THERE—he is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott’s exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personal letters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist. Ashby was a Hollywood director who constantly clashed with Hollywood, but also a unique soul with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His films were an elusive blend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring HAL, you feel buoyed by Ashby’s love of people and of cinema, a little like walking on water.