Between laserdisc and dvd, I've become rather spoiled by filmmakers who record commentaries, even if they sound disinterested or coerced into the task.

Of course, I've learned to respect those who've always refused such as Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, David Lynch and Steven Spielberg to name a few. It really does seem presumptious to assume that these folks owe the viewers anything once the film is complete and a refusal to record commentaries or take part in other dvd supplements is a good reminder of that.

What actually inspired me to write this post are filmmakers who began by recording commentaries and have since stopped. The most notorious of these are The Wachoskis who hosted a fun, listenable commentary on the BOUND laserdisc which I remember hoping was setting the standard for many enjoyable commentaries to come. I even remember thinking during my first disappointed viewing of THE MATRIX: "Well, at least this should make for a fun commentary."

I've often hoped that once the brothers untangle their personal problems they'd come out of hiding and sit down for a chat, but given their cover story of "wanting the movie to speak for itself" and how, in their written statement on the ULTIMATE MATRIX dvds, they dismissed the type of commentary which gets bogged down in pointless anecdotes like, "Oh, we had to switch caterers this day" (I'm paraphrasing).

And the one guy who really did inspire me to post this is Paul Thomas Anderson. I was disappointed, but unsurprised that he didn't record a track for MAGNOLIA. After all, that seemed like a particularly personal movie for him and I can see him having more of an excuse to "let the movie speak for itself." It was when he didn't record a track for PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE that I began to suspect that he was done with the practice.

In the new DvdTalk review of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, the reviewer states that Anderson has gone on record as saying he will no longer be recording commentaries. I instantly went to Google a quote, but couldn't find any definitive statement from Anderson. It's not mentioned on his Wikipedia page or his IMDB page.

No matter. The evidence speaks for itself. I suspected that he was done with it several years ago so I don't doubt that this is the case. I do know that I was really hoping for him to break his recent silence on THERE WILL BE BLOOD, but I sort of knew ahead of time that he wouldn't. It's easy to imagine that he didn't want to diminish the impact of his Malickesque/Kubrickian epic with his tendency to admire his own work with a steady stream of profanity while chuckling along with a willing cast member about "waxing one another's car."

Have there been any other filmmakers in recent years who have sworn off of recording audio commentaries? Particularly those who once seemed okay with it.

I don't know if it's a sign of a changed mind, but I was surprised that EASTERN PROMISES didn't include a David Cronenberg commentary. He's always been one of the best directors at being able to look at his own work analytically. He has also recently said that he would go "quite far" out of his way to avoid reading any criticism of his work, so I'd be interested to know if the absence of a commentary track was indicative of a move away from self-consciousness.

Cronenberg in commentary and interview has long struck me as engaging in a practice that held me back when I tried therapy: he's almost defensively articulate and self-aware. I don't mean that he's evasive or contrary - I mean that he's so ready with a fully-formed 'take' on his intentions and resulting works that there's little room for outside interpretation - and little opportunity for Cronenberg to be caught off-guard by any such interpretation. It used to drive my therapist nuts, because while I would show near-preternatural awareness of my actions, I could never achieve the (forgive me) 'naked lunch' moment of being surprised by what was on the end of my fork. I was never caught off-guard enough to catalyze change in myself.

Scorsese once said after reading(?) an interview with Cronenberg that the man had no real idea what his movies were about. What I once considered a flip, facile comment, I now find an incisive evaluation of Cronenberg's need to hyperarticulate.

John Carpenter really should stop, as he doesn't seem to like anything he's made in decades. His commentaries only come to life when there's an actor around that he can shoot the bull with; but in the commentary for PRO-LIFE, he actually walked out for a 10-minute smoke.

Well, considering his last decent movie was made 26 years ago (THE THING), we can't really blame him now, can we? :P

I don't think Brian De Palma has ever recorded a commentary. Although he often appears on making of documentaries, he once stated in a BBC interview with Mark Cousins that he finds the whole promotional aspect of his job a chore - and this obviously extends to the act of talking over his own movies.

Walter Hill is another commentary-shy director, but he did justify his WARRIORS re-jig by making an appearance on the DVD to explain his intentions.

Though I've enjoyed them quite a bit in the past, I hardly ever listen to commentary tracks anymore (two or three last year at most;out of more than 400 films I watched). I do enjoy short talking head documentaries with the director, actors and crew. I still read about films, directors, genres quite a bit too.

I wish there were more critical reaction commentaries as opposed to just straight director/writer/actor puffery.

Think Hitchcock would have done commentaries? How about Welles?

I personally think Carpenter was a consistently good filmmaker up to and including the terrific THEY LIVE.

Vincent

That was a brilliant interview - I though De Palma was going to throttle Cousins at one point.

At a promotional screening of DEATH PROOF in Glasgow last year I asked Tarantino why he hadn't recorded a Director's Commentary for any of his own movies. He gave a fairly long rambling answer (surprise!) which basically boiled down to his not wanting to give away all of his thoughts and secrets abt his own work - whereas he was happy to chat with Jack Hill or Eli Roth about their movies. Tarantino made it pretty clear that he wasn't that big a fan of ANY commentary tracks, though he did say he'd recently enjoyed the Jeff Lieberman/JUST BEFORE DAWN track (and he's right, it's a good'un!)