Something’s Gonna Live (Daniel Raim, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Lisa Blondell.  Viewed at Mann’s Chinese Theater 6, Hollywood.

Director Daniel Raim has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary for The Man on Lincoln’s Nose.   This nominated film gives an inside look at the filmmaking process. Raim focuses on Robert Boyle’s art directing and has footage of the men revisiting the locations from Hitchcock’s The Birds. Raim includes the same coverage from this revisit in his recent film Something’s Gonna Live.  Something’s Gonna Live provides footage of talented behind the scenes filmmakers, while also including a touching story of these men.

Robert Boyle, Henry Bumstead, Conrad Hall, Harold Michelson, Alber Nozaki, and Haskell Wexler are a few of the legendary filmmakers and art directors of classical Hollywood cinema. While watching this film at the AFI Film Festival, Robert Boyle and Haskell Wexler were in the theater. They briefly talking after the film. The most powerful message this film provided was that imperfections are part of the film process. Something’s Gonna Live encompasses the craftsmanship, along with the passion and commodity that go into making a film. This is not a film that simply states “old Hollywood is better than Hollywood today.” It is reflecting on the hard work that went into the process many years ago. Of course it would be much easier to make the films by Hitchcock or John Ford today with the assistance of all the amazing computer software, but it would lack the blood and sweat that some of these art directors put into the production.

I really enjoyed this film. During the film, I found myself glancing over to the man in the wheelchair in front of me in the theater who turned out to be Robert Boyle himself. This 100 year old man has been an influence to all art directors. He has worked with Hitch on some of the most well known films in Hollywood cinema history. The film is truly holds the audience’s attention. Going into the film, I was unsure what to expect or if I would find much interest in the documentary, but I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. If you’re a movie lover, how could a film about making movies not interest you? The characters are both humorous and historically significant to filmmaking. I believe this film depicts a social issue outside of the film industry. The important message sketched throughout this film is that imperfections are beautiful. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect or flawless. Classic films, films that the filmmakers today were influenced by, films from the beginning of cinema all had imperfections, yet are considered some of the greatest masterpieces. So whether it be appearance, personality, or even editing a film, imperfections are beautiful, and without them, the world would be extremely boring.  And after it’s all said and done, after these men pass away, and after their hard work goes to rest, these films will live on forever.  Because some things truly never die, some things are going to live.