When the original Playlist was up and running (uhhh, *memories*), one of our EIC’s favorite films from the 2009 International Film Festival of Boston was the documentary, “I Knew It Was You,” a loving portrait of the underappreciated cult ’70s character actor John Cazale, whose abrupt career burned through five unforgettable roles in five unimpeachable classics (“The Conversation,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Deer Hunter”) in an all too brief and incandescent six years.
Best known for his role as the anxious and overlooked son, Fredo Corelone in “The Godfather” and its sequel, Cazale’s flame was snuffed out far too early in 1978 when he died of lung cancer before the release of “The Deerhunter.”
Directed by Richard Shepard (and produced by Brett Ratner), the documentary features affectionate testimonials, by his peers and friends, including former girlfriend Meryl Streep, fellow actors and filmmakers Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola (who hired him for three of the five pictures) and modern admirers, Steve Buscemi, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Sam Rockwell among many others.
It’s a brief, but economic 40 minutes long, but it’s said to be fantastic. But many of us, this writer included, hasn’t seen it yet. That’s because it was supposed to hit HBO last year and for some reason never did (though it did screen in Brooklyn, last summer briefly in a BAM retrospective of Cazale’s work).
Either way, it’s now arriving and the slightly retitled doc, “I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale,” will debut on HBO next month on June 1. We can’t wait as our old reviews were near raves (and Cazale was obviously the man, the five aforementioned films he appeared in collective earned 40 Oscar nominations in total).
Here’s when it plays on HBO: June 1 (8:00-8:45 p.m. ET/PT — debut and 4:50 a.m.), June 3 (1:30 p.m., 11:50 p.m.), June 5 (3:30 p.m.), June 8 (9:30 a.m.), June 11 (5:30 p.m.) and June 13 (10:15 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 9 (9:30 p.m.), June 11 (5:20 a.m.) and June 24 (2:30 p.m.).
Our TIVO is already locked in. Here’s a tribute to Cazale and an interview with Richard Shepard about the film.