• Pennebaker on Mailer: Wild 90 and Beyond the Law

    The feral first three films by Norman Mailer, available in our thirty-fifth Eclipse set, may look primitive, but Mailer had some of the best filmmakers in the business on set to help him out, including verité pioneers D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock. Pennebaker, known for such documentaries as Monterey Pop (1967) and The War Room (1993), was particularly involved, serving as a cinematographer on all three films (1968’s Wild 90 and Beyond the Law and 1970’s Maidstone). A guiding influence on these daring experiments, he was witness to some bizarre behavior. In a new, Criterion-exclusive interview, which we will present this week in two parts, critic Michael Chaiken sits down with Pennebaker to talk about what it was like working on Mailer’s indefinable, anything-goes films. In this first installment, Pennebaker recalls Wild 90 and Beyond the Law.

    Watch the second part of the interview.

    Video, Web Exclusives

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3 comments

  • By Mark B.
    October 16, 2012
    08:15 PM

    Hey D.A., You were supposed to make a short about drug addiction. What happened to that? Thanks Mark
    Reply

  • By J. Jones
    October 16, 2012
    11:38 PM

    Which film are you thinking of? He did one titled "David" for Robert Drew and Time-Life in the '60s, but it was never broadcast or widely circulated.
    Reply

  • By susasn baldwin
    October 31, 2012
    10:02 AM

    WOW are these guys still with us.?!!!!.met you all 30 years ago....congratulations !!!!! susan mills johnson baldwin
    Reply

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