SMASH HIS CAMERA

When this movie surfaced in Sundance in 2010 it caused such a buzz that I was somewhat annoyed that we couldn’t fit it into our viewing schedule.  It went on to win the Best Documentary Directing Award for filmmaker Leon Gast. So it was with heightened eager anticipation when I finally got the chance this week, and I was so disappointed to discover what a mediocre movie it in fact was.

This is the story of the infamous Ron Galella the most loathed paparazzi photographer who for the past 40+ years has stalked some of the U.S’s biggest celebrities.  He was sued by Jacqueline Onassis , and Marlon Brando broke his jaw but that never put him off.  He obsessively trailed the rich and famous 24/7 and if nothing else, he needs to be admired for his sheer dogged persistency.

Galella is however a truly obnoxious opportunist who armed with good cameras seemed to get his best photographs more by luck than judgment as once he had his ‘target’ in view he shot frames fast and furiously without a moment’s consideration just hoping that one of them would be worthwhile.  The film led us to believe it often was it often was, and it never delved too deep into the quality of the other photos in his enormous Archives.

Galella is an irritating and shallow man and outside of his work is totally uninteresting: it led renowned artist Chuck Close to question why they were even making this film about him.  They were of course doing it for the times he struck gold with some rewarding pictures of such iconic figures, but it’s them we want to see, not him.

The title of the movie are the words of our elegant former First Lady (by then she was Mrs Onassis)when Galella cornered her yet once again, but this time she was simply trying to grab some down time with her two kids by cycling through Central Park one Sunday morning.   Just imagine how much bluer they would have been if it been today and he trapped a C. List Celeb. like Lindsay Lohen.  But then again, she would probably like all the irritating attention.

If you want to see Galella’s work, skip the movie, and  just get one of his books out of the Library.