When she won her Academy Award, Viola Davis spoke about going to the graveyard and exhuming the bodies to exhume the stories of those buried. She was talking about more unknown subjects than Montgomery Clift, a four time Oscar nominee, but I couldn’t help but recall her words as I watched Making Montgomery Clift at LA Film Festival. The directors, Clift’s nephew Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon, set out to bring Clift’s full life into the public consciousness, exhuming his narrative and setting some things to rights.
Making Montgomery Clift has about as strong of a viewpoint as you are likely to find in a documentary. In digging into the man, the myth, and the legend, the documentary brings up the many misunderstandings and salacious gossip that surrounded Monty and attempts to explain who the man really was. They dish it out a bit too, reveling in presenting the other side of the truth regarding his sexuality and relationship with his collaborators, both good and bad (the John Huston section is a DOOZY). But more than just a celeb profile that will entice anyone interested in Hollywood history, this is an empathetic look at a family reckoning with the impact of someone from their bloodline. Robert Clift might not have ever met his uncle, but using his father’s many recordings and speaking with those close to him, it’s as if the ties that bind haven’t come unbound.
There’s something to appreciate with a documentary that it allows the subject to be more interesting than the filmmaking. Clift and Demmon don’t need the doc to have high gloss or fancy camera tricks to keep our interest, it would have detracted quite a bit. This is not to say that they have fallen down on the job, but to inform that if you want something stylish, this is not that doc. What Making Montgomery Clift has in spades is a brilliant understanding of juxtaposition, interrogating any and every issue or piece of information with gusto. There’s a segment in this film where they speak with some creatives who were planning to make features of his life and there’s a cut to something Montgomery said that’s so brutal and cutting that I had to pause the screener I was watching just to laugh at how brilliant it was.
Making Montgomery Clift adds up to a wonderful watch and a film that is easily recommendable. It’s juicy enough to get the gossip hound salivating, but contains such a great amount of care and heart that anyone will be able to appreciate and be grateful for the life of Montgomery Clift.