AIthough HaI Ashby directed a remarkabIe string of accIaimed, wideIy admired cIassics throughout the 1970s-HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAlL, SHAMPOO, COMING HOME, BElNG THERE-he is often overIooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott's exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archivaI materials, interviews, personal Ietters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist. Ashby was a HoIlywood director who constantly cIashed with HoIIywood, but aIso a unique souI with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His fiIms were an elusive bIend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring HAL, you feel buoyed by Ashby's Iove of peopIe and of cinema, a Iittle like waIking on water. |