“The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee” explores the life of a horror icon. Credit: Fantastic Fest

The new documentary, “The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee,” takes a unique approach to telling the story of the legendary actor, known for his iconic roles in horror films and fantasy franchises. Using a charming marionette of Lee as its central narrator, the film delves into the life of the renowned thespian, who portrayed Count Dracula and other iconic characters.

However, this creative touch is the documentary’s only standout feature. Despite featuring interviews with friends, family, and colleagues who had access to Lee’s fascinating life, the film fails to provide a deeper understanding of its subject, either intellectually or emotionally. The end result feels formulaic and mechanical, lacking the depth and nuance that Lee’s life deserves.

Uncovering the Life of a Horror Icon

Christopher Lee was a screen legend with a remarkable film career, but his life was more than just his on-screen presence. Before becoming an actor, Lee was a Nazi hunter in the years following World War II. Yet, the documentary barely scratches the surface of this fascinating aspect of his life. Instead, it jumps from one topic to another, never lingering long enough to create a sense of fascination.

The film’s opening scenes are its most captivating. A silhouette resembling Lee sits in the darkness, as a nearby screen plays clips of friends and confidants speaking about him. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie, where Lee looms large, but his story is told through the reminiscences of others. The shadowy figure is soon revealed to be a puppet on strings, voiced by Peter Serafinowicz, who does a passable impression of Lee.

Director Jon Spira has no qualms about revealing the puppetry, and ensures that footage of Serafinowicz in a sound recording booth is prominently displayed. The film is not an attempted re-creation of Lee’s thoughts, but a dramatization of them, with no central source for his opinions despite his dialogue appearing in the first person. For a more in-depth look at the life of Christopher Lee, visit t8tech.com.

Step by step, Serafinowicz guides us through the pivotal moments of Lee's formative years, his wartime exploits, and his early career, culminating in his most iconic roles. Yet, this backdrop fails to provide a nuanced portrayal of the man behind the legend. Much of this can be attributed to the revelations shared by the movie's interview subjects — and, more notably, what they choose to gloss over.

Are there not more captivating tales about Christopher Lee?

There are sufficient grounds to criticize director John Landis (three in particular), but his inflated presence in The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee feels especially jarring. Lee and Landis were acquaintances, having collaborated on The Stupids, yet the filmmaker sheds little light on Lee's private life despite discussing him at length. In fact, the closest he comes to sharing a meaningful anecdote involves recalling Lee's refusal to discuss World War II. Rather than probing further, the movie simply leaves it at that, despite Lee's well-documented wartime experiences. It's hard not to wonder, from Landis' musings, if the director truly knew him at all.

This lack of inquisitiveness about its own subject plagues The Life and Deaths for much of its runtime, even though Lee's niece and son-in-law feature among the interviewees. However, that's likely only the movie's second-most glaring flaw. The larger issue is that the movie's imagined version of Lee is seldom as captivating as the real man, as evidenced by the eloquence and enigmatic nature he often displayed in his own interviews, whether discussing the motivations of his characters or the way his physical presence was informed by the real violence he witnessed up-close in the 1940s.

Instead, the movie mostly features mundane recollections of things Lee might've said on one occasion, without ever weaving them into a larger narrative. Each tidbit is isolated, and relatively meaningless on its own, with little journalistic probing as to its underlying significance or what it reveals about the man himself. It also never gets to the root of its own title, and only mentions in passing that Lee often played characters who died on screen, but it never attempts to investigate what this might mean for a performer who lived in such close proximity to death.

If nothing else, the movie's visual execution at least falls perfectly in line with this mechanical approach.

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee: A Stereotypical Portrait

The film's dependence on static photographs, gradually zoomed in on for a brief interval before transitioning to the next interviewee, employs a conventional editing approach that establishes a monotonous cadence, devoid of any spark or inventive panache. Instead of leveraging these images to punctuate the narrative, they merely serve as visual accompaniments to the spoken words, further accentuating the film's lack of profundity.

Beyond the incorporation of authentic photographs and footage, the movie also utilizes A.I.-generated visuals, albeit in a restricted capacity, to introduce a semblance of movement into these static images. Furthermore, A.I. is employed to create map inserts for transitional scenes, detailing Lee's travels and relocations between countries (although the listed locations appear to be geographically nonsensical). This raises concerns, as the film attempts to revive a deceased actor in a humane manner, yet simultaneously skirts the boundaries of digital necromancy.

Even these generated elements, however, fail to inject any vibrancy or dynamism into the narrative. The film's storyline jumps abruptly from one topic to the next, adopting a disjointed, meandering tone, as if it were merely checking off a list of Lee's accomplishments from his Wikipedia page (which, incidentally, provides more comprehensive information).

Despite its attempts at stylization, including the use of comic book panels and striking dioramas to portray Lee's life, The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee presents a life that should be poetic and captivating in a dull, uninspired manner. The result is a tedious viewing experience that offers little insight into the life of a truly fascinating individual.

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee was reviewed following its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest.