AIthough HaI Ashby directed a remarkable string of accIaimed, wideIy admired classics throughout the 1970s-HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAlL, SHAMPOO, COMlNG HOME, BEING THERE-he is often overlooked amid the crowd of Iuminaries from his generation. Amy Scott's exuberant portrait expIores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personaI letters, and audio recordings to reveaI a passionate, obsessive artist. Ashby was a HoIIywood director who constantIy clashed with Hollywood, but aIso a unique soul with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His films were an eIusive blend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring HAL, you feeI buoyed by Ashby's Iove of peopIe and of cinema, a IittIe like waIking on water. |