1983 ‘Leuchtturm des Chaos’ Directed by Manfred Blank, Wolf-Eckart Bühler
A superb, moving and thrilling interview with American actor Sterling Hayden (1916-86), held in Besançon, France, on board a dilapidated barge, when he was 65 years old. An unparalleled portrait, in his own words and without any qualms, of a legendary Hollywood star, icon of film noir and the western, who was also a marine, an OSS agent, an anti-communist informer, a writer and a wandering sailor: the hero of his own life.
Pharos of Chaos: A Profile of Sterling Hayden, Lighthouse of Chaos, Faro del caos
Germany
USA
New York City
Germany
Germany
USA
"The sea, the sea, the sea, the sea - the goddamn motherfucking sea!"
Why would a documentary about Sterling Hayden, who lent his iconic screen presence to Huston, Kubrick, Ray, Coppola, Altman, Robert Wise and Andre DeToth, hold off asking him about his films until the last half-hour of a two-hour movie? Probably because the preceding ninety minutes are heartbreaking and wonderful. Hayden, here, reminds me so much of Lee Marvin in "drunkenly telling Playboy that he supports gay rights" mode. Here is someone who's fought in a war, a hellish war even by the standards of war, and been raised to live by a code of stoic machismo that has near-as destroyed him. He had a breakdown, and the…
A part of Mubi's ongoing Rediscovered season, Pharos of Chaos is a documentary about the actor Sterling Hayden.
Anyone who knows much about Hayden could probably guess from the outset that this isn't going to be a normal personality documentary, and the interviews with Hayden that form much of its running time are anything but ordinary too.
If you watch this expecting much insight into his acting work you're going to be sadly disappointed. Hayden's much publicised dislike for much of his work in films comes through here, where he only talks about three films in anything approaching some detail. The Asphalt Jungle was clearly a work he had affection for, but he also talks about an unspecified western where…
“I know capitalism is shit, in a way. Is it not?”
It would have been beneficial to watch Pharos of Chaos (the Sterling Hayden documentary) before the Sterling Hayden biopic, The Shipwrecker, to get the feel of his actual personality first.
The Shipwrecker was presented by MUBI first, however. In any case, the Pharos filmmakers Manfred Blank and Wolf-Eckart Bühler must have thought it was exhilarating to watch Sterling Hayden smoke. He says murmurs a lot and events aren't presented linearly, so some things are repeated. Sometimes Hayden is raving and not coherent. Added to the disaster is an almost robotic voiceover and an unfortunate comment from Hayden saying how it'd be great to be raped by a girl.
The…
Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?
Sterling Hayden was one fascinating dude and this incredible self-portrait is no different. Those expecting a cheerful, feature length career retrospective will however be disappointed as we meet a scornful, plastered, hashish-smoking Hayden aboard his barge somewhere along the Dutch waters. Over the course of several afternoons Hayden recounts his sailing and military experiences, the HUAC hearings and his continuing bouts with alcoholism. There are interesting film nuggets particularly the ones involving Altman, Kubrick, Huston but they are few and far between. He’s guilt-ridden and in a somewhat self-destructive state but anecdotes are shared with refreshing candour. Clocking at almost 2 hours and filled with Hayden’s verbal idiosyncrasies, Pharos of Chaos might seem tedious or even depressing to some but it's truly one of a kind exploration into a storied career and a troubled mind.
'Huh? hm? Huh. Hm? Huh? HUH? HUH?! Hm. HM. HUH?'
It turns out Sterling Hayden's character in The Long Goodbye became a reality for the maverick actor and ten years later he was living as a broken alcoholic on a barge in Europe, tormented by his past transgressions and destroyed by the very machismo that defined his life up until the point where it could no longer be sustained. It's a sad and quite heart-breaking footnote for a decorated war hero, seaman, author and icon of classic Hollywood—this was a man who had been to hell and back, who lived by a code of innate seafaring toughness and upon discovering he no longer had this crutch to lean on, found…
Die Filme in den Zeiten der Corona №48
Hayden-Double
Sterling Hayden: Hochinteressanter, rastloser Abenteurer, exzentrischer Einzelgänger, angeschlagener Alkoholiker, sich seiner selbst bewusster Zweifler, aus der Zeit gefallener Unherschweifer.
Die Ausführung: Auf und um seinem Kahn irgendwo in Europa hält Hayden, wie ein zum Leben erweckter und vom Leben gezeichneter Mix aus Gandalf und Tom Sawyer, teils traurig-verwirrte Monologe über sein/das Leben, seine Filme, Alkohol und die See.
Ein berührender Abgesang auf die (amerikanische) Maskulinität alter Zeiten.
MoMA - DCP
Co-Director Wolf-Eckart Bühler in person
Hm? Huh? Yeah? Hm?
The moment I thought "this is a great portrait of alcoholism" Sterling Hayden, sipping a bottle of Johnnie Walker red says "this film will be a great record of alcoholism". I was very moved by how affected he was after his would be death from drowning had his son not been right there quick to his feet to rescue him. (which echoes Haydens story earlier in the film about a naked man's quick response to moving his barge out of harms way)
Hayden waxes poetic, stumbles through ideas, drinks, smokes hash out of a Gandalf-like pipe. wears sick collarless shirts and sports a dope Abe Lincoln beard. Is he acting? No? Maybe? Hm? Yeah? Hm? Yeah Baby.
This is a series of interviews with maverick actor Sterling Hayden near the end of his life. I wanted to see this because I read his book Wanderer years ago. Hayden was a man who rejected the artifice of "star" and saw acting as a way to finance his passions. He was a sailor, first and foremost. He marched to his own drummer. Hayden drank a lot, and the effects of alcohol could be seen in these interviews. However, he also emerges as an authentic person/free thinker and, as the thumbnail here states, the hero of his own life.
In Wanderer, he details the story of taking his two young sons on a sailing circumnavigation of, well, the whole earth. He took them, apparently without clear permission from his ex-wife. I don't know if he got in legal trouble but he certainly gave them the thrill of a lifetime.
Had initially approached this as near enough funny as hell -- Hayden is clearly completely fucking nuts smoking resin, drinking, adding "ums" and "hey" and "yknow" to literally every fucking word, the man has undoubtedly lost his marbles and it's probably great that he's just living by himself (2nd son with him, unseen) enjoying life on his boat.
Soon enough it becomes aparent that Pharos of Chaos is an incredible documentary as soon as Hayden becomes more and more reflective. He admits that it's a shame he's "about two thirds sloshed" but it's a more reflective portrayal of the real him. Then he starts talking about suicides, Woolfe, Hemingway, near enough himself. He wonders why he drinks, why he's depressed,…
The ramblings of a drunkard. Watching Sterling Hayden's at the end of his life and the ticks the alcohol had inflicted on his personality was sad and a fascinating study. I almost didn't care that they barely touched on his Hollywood career. This was a portrait of a carefree drunk.
Candid and at times rather ugly documentary on actor Sterling Hayden. Directors Manfred Blank and Wolf-Eckart Bühler went to France to visit Hayden and do an extended interview with him but I'm going to guess that they had no idea what they were getting into.
PHAROS OF CHAOS isn't the easiest picture to watch and especially if you're a fan of Hayden. I say that because throughout this two-hour movie he's in pretty bad shape at times and there's no question that his alcoholism is controlling his life. I'm curious if the directors knew that this is the Hayden they were getting or if they just showed up and realized what they had and worked with it.
Throughout the documentary…
