Q&A with Peter Serafinowicz, director Jon Spira, producer Hank Starrs and Christopher Lee’s biographer Jonathan Rigby
Produced in association with the BFI, this unique documentary features exclusive interviews, previously unseen archive material and multiple forms of animation to bring one of the world’s leading actors back to life on screen. Peter Jackson, John Landis and Joe Dante, as well as Lee’s niece, actor Harriet Walter, join his family, friends and professional collaborators in exploring his work and life.
bfi.org.uk
For eight decades and across almost 300 films, one man defined what it was to be a screen villain for generations of cinema-goers. Despite being instantly familiar to, and beloved by, film fans from 10 to 100, the unbelievable true story of the man behind the macabre has never really been told. Until now.
The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee is the new feature length documentary from the makers of Hollywood Bulldogs, Elstree 1976 and Reel Britannia. Once again, director Jon Spira and producer Hank Starrs have found an already fascinating film-related subject and then crafted a documentary of unexpected emotional depth, engaging style and good humour around it.
Christopher Lee’s story would be fascinating, even if it only went as far as audiences already know; that of an iconic actor who defined the role of Dracula and went from being the star of the 1960s Hammer horror films to a distinguished career encompassing the 007, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises. But there is so much more to the life and career of Sir Christopher Lee – and who better to tell that story than the man himself?
Despite being dead for the past nine years, there could be no better candidate for narrator than the Prince of Darkness and Master of Macabre himself. Taking the form of an elaborate string puppet, Sir Christopher will guide us through the wild and unlikely story of his 93 year journey from Italian aristocratic roots through his wartime experiences in the Finnish and British military, his post-war Nazi-hunting spy adventures (which just might have influenced the storytelling of his cousin Bond-creator Ian Fleming) and his bizarre and unequalled, acting career which culminated in a Guinness World Record for highest number of screen performances.
Director’s statement
I’ve been fascinated by Christopher Lee since I first became aware of him at 8 years old watching his bad guy turn in the little-seen 1983 superhero musical The Return of Captain Invincible. It wasn’t long until I was introduced to his Dracula and Bond villain Scaramanga and I understood that he was a real film star. But it was when I was older and working in film curation that I really started to notice that he not only cropped up in more films than anyone else (he holds the Guinness World Record for this) but that he cropped up in more types of film than anyone else. He didn’t seem to mind whether the budget was in the high millions or low thousands. He would appear in Spanish, German, Italian, films always speaking in the fluent native tongue. One year, he’d be in one of the greatest Westerns as a gunmaker, the next he’d be back in London as a haughty MI5 agent. And despite seemingly always playing the bad guy, his range was stunning.
My interest in making a film about him began a few years ago when I stumbled upon his episode of This Is Your Life on youtube. Within thirty minutes, it seemed to be that this confident, erudite giant of a man was anxious and uncomfortable when presented with a narrative of his life that he, perhaps, wasn’t in control of. I read his autobiography shortly thereafter and his enigmatic references and self-deprecation very much planted the seed in my head.
My suspicions were very much confirmed when we began to shoot interviews for the film – warm reminisces and great behind-the-scenes stories from filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, John Landis and Joe Dante along with revealing and unexpected tales and insights from family members such as his son-in-law Juan Aneiros and niece, the actor Harriet Walter. Things got even weirder when we started conducting interviews about his career as a heavy metal singer in his nineties. The one theme that seemed to connect all of these interviews, however, were the unexpected stories of Lee’s quite endearing deep insecurity. Ultimately, this became an underlying theme for the whole documentary, revealing Lee to be no less impressive but warmly relatable to a very broad audience.
The biggest challenge in making this film was working out the narrative format. Lee had such a distinctive spoken voice that I had hoped to capture it either through stitching together old interviews or creating a digital version of him and using a vocal impersonator to bring it to life. Early tests proved unsatisfactory so, after brainstorming with producer Hank we decided to take a road less travelled and to commission Andy Gent of AMC Puppets to produce an 18 inch marionette of Lee. Gent’s previous work with Tim Burton on The Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie and Wes Anderson on Isle of Dogs and The Fantastic Mr Fox assured us that we were in good hands and the footage we produced at Gent’s AMC studio, working with Peter Serafinowicz to provide the voice is utterly unique, dramatic and enchanting.
I love that the finished film manages to be unexpected and quirky whilst still being a very satisfying documentary story and relatable, empathic journey through the life of a subject who becomes even more beloved at the end of the process.
Production notes
THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE
Directed by: Jon Spira
©: Dead Charming Ltd
Production Companies: Canal Cat Films
In association with: BFI, HH5, Trigger Films
Executive Producers: Jonathan Ford, Piers Holdsworth Hunt, Jack Oliver, Jonathan Rigby, Reinhard Besser, Francesco Capussela, Amer Hilal, Walter Mair, Carsten Vollmers, Pat Wintersgill
Produced by: Hank Starrs
Producer: Adam F. Goldberg
Associate Producer: Chloë Hancock
Line Producer (LA Unit): Candace Cason
Archive Producer: Kathy Manners
Written by: Jon Spira
Heart Surgery Sequence Designed and Directed by: Dave McKean
Director of Photography: Simon Vickery
LA Unit Director of Photography: Michael Tedford
Camera Operator: Dan Starborg
Featuring Original Animations by: Andrew Gill, Astrid Goldsmith, Dave McKean, Cornelia Skrok
Animations: Elissa Lenoir Ajaka, Andrew Gill, Astrid Goldsmith, Reid Jameson Potts, Cornelia Skrok
Motion Graphics: Andrew Gill
Puppeteers: Olly Taylor, Lynn Robertson Bruce
Marionette Designed and Built by: Arch Model Studios
Supervising Model Maker: Andy Gent
Editor: Alex Barrett
Hair & Make-up: Katherine Thomas
Original Score by: Jamie Hyatt
Original Score Performed by: Jamie Hyatt, Richard Brincklow
Heart Surgery Sequence Music & Piano: Dave McKean
Cello: Matthew Sharp
Music Produced by: Ashley Slater
Sound Recordist: Sherylee Anne Houssein
LA Unit Sound Mixer: Logan Smith
Stills Photographer: Daisy Starrs
Consultant: Jonathan Rigby
BFI National Archive Curatorial Consultant: Josephine Botting
BFI National Archive Consultant: John Carino
Dedicated to the memory of: Dan Auty, John ‘John Vaults’ Rivett
Narration Performed by: Peter Serafinowicz
Featuring
Juan Aneiros
Corrado Canonici
Joe Dante
Peter Jackson
John Landis
Paul Maslansky
Caroline Munro
Juan Ramirez
Jonathan Rigby
Harriet Walter
Heart Surgery Sequence:
Simon Storer (Christopher Lee)
Garth Haythornthwaite (J.R.R. Tolkien)
UK 2023
90 mins
Total running time 140 mins
Courtesy of Sky Originals, BFI, Trigger Films, HH5, Canal Cat Films
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Programme notes and credits compiled by Sight and Sound and the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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