Lee Marvin - A Personal Portrait by John Boorman

Actor Lee Marvin was famous for his slightly crazy and hard-boiled characters, often with a great deal of irony.
He was born in New York, 1924.
On his father's side he was related to Washington and on his mother's side to Jefferson. His childhood was protected and as a teenager he dropped out of school and joined the Marines, and fought in the Pacific.
In 1951 he became asmash on Broadway in the play Billy Buddand moved to Hollywood to be a film actor. Marvin continued making film until his death. During the thirty-five years he
was active as an actor he made some fifty movies. He died in 1987 from a heart attack in Tucson, Arizona, and received
a soldier's funeral even though it was not what he wanted.
Director John Boorman tells about how Marvin looked forthe right gestures, the perfect moods to express every feeling. Boorman and Marvin made two fi Ims together- Point Blank(1967) and Hell in the Pacific (1968). They remained good friends.
We get to see severa I c lips from famous movies, where Marvin fights heroes, crooks and wives. His own wife, Pamela Freely - number two and the love
of his life- published a biography of her lifewith Marvin, in 1997.lnthefilmshe shows us around in their home, among photographs, fishing trophies etc.
Another person we meet is Jim Jarmusch, who talks about the secret organization that he and Tom Waits belonged to - the Sons of Marvin Lee.
''He was an icon of psychotic behaviour'', says Jarmusch and talks about the softness that shone through his rough outer layer. William Hurt is also in the film and remembers how it was to work with such an experienced actor in The Gorkij Park (1983). ''He showed you what you could be by accepting the way he was fully''. Hurt remembers Marvin as a very lively person, who loved deep sea fishing and tells us, among other things, what Marvin thought was the meaning of life.
ANGELICA TIBBLIN CHEN