Love, Antosha (2019, streaming free on UK Amazon Prime)
An often uncomfortable look back at the life of Anton Yelchin told by those who loved him (seemingly everyone) and more interestingly, himself.
Taking the similar format to recent documentaries of Hollywood types (I am Patrick Swayze, I Am Paul Walker), its told largely through a huge amount of archive footage (home movies, behind the scenes footage, film clips) and very honest talking heads, this one feels more personal, more like you're getting a glimpse under the subject's skin, thanks in part to having Yelchin's own voice be so prevalent - not just via the tonne of interviews he's done over the years, not just in the huge amount of home movies he and his friends and family shot, but in the diary excerpts read by, of all people, Nic Cage. Its both hauntingly eerie and yet hugely insightful, the film having to do far more to get anywhere near understanding its own subject because of the sheer depth of who he seemed to be.
Yelchin just appeared to be one of those rare individuals who could turn his hand to anything, yet also be the type of person everyone wanted him to be - from his obviously deep and loving relationship with his parents, to the interviews with almost everyone he ever worked with (the entire Star Trek cast, JJ Abrams, Jodie Foster, Frank Langella, Martin Landau, Jennifer Lawrence, Ben Foster, Willem Defoe, the list just goes on) and every one of them having an obvious deep and real link to him and their time together, its massively affecting.
We're not used to seeing the likes of Lawrence tear up at the thought of him or of Chris Pine rage against the injustice of his death, yet here they are. And its testament to just who Yelchin was, and how well this documentary captures his spirit, that the most affecting comment was made by Landau who simply said he would hate for the world to forget about him because he really was so good.......
Interestingly it didn't shy away from some of the darker sides of Yelchin - his obsession with those on the fringes of 'normal' society both shocked and amused his cast mates, yet its his battle with his own Cystic Fibrosis that seemed to shape him more in his later years, seemingly entering into an uneasy time in his life trying to do different things and accept who he is and make peace with this incurable disease of his at the time of his very tragic death.
It can't help itself entirely, its entire duration being scored a little too sentimentally when it really isn't needed, but amongst a sea of similar and very good looks under the skin of famous actors taken too young, this one just seems to hurt the most precisely because there is a sense of him being on the verge of doing so much more........
Massively affecting and worth watching to remind ourselves of just how much he had done and really of what we've missed out on. Doing a superb job of helping us understand its subject more than we did before, this is excellent and emotional documentary making
