I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale

Yeah, it's great to revisit the mammoth talent that was John Cazale, but the best thing about this DVD is the two black and white films that are to be found in the extras section. These films show John as an up and coming actor and as a cameraman. These two films are largely surrealistic attempts at social commentary or in visual puns. Both are excellent and should have captured a larger audience's attention.

But the main feature, the documentary, it is good, a little short, but good nonetheless. I read that Talia Shire's interview footage wasn't used. That's too bad, the film makers could have used a few extra minutes to pad this documentary out.

Great for novice film buffs and for fans of Cazale.

This is a must-see for any fan of 70s movies, or anyone who, like me, grew up in 70s and saw Cazale's films when they first opened. The walk down memory lane provided by the footage of the Godfather films, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon and Deer Hunter alone make it worthwhile. But the real treasure, of course, is the chance to revisit Cazale's performances. It sounds clichéd, but there really is no actor like him. It's also marvelous to see the host of the mega-talented actors and directors, including every luminary he worked with, participate & pay tribute to this singular talent. It's a shame there isn't more footage of him, and that he apparently never did a recorded interview. We only see Cazale through the lens of his characters - we never get to see him as just himself.

Just watched this doc on HBO even though short it was informative, moving, and a nice tribute to a fallen great that many people don't remember. Unless your probably a major film buff or historian you don't remember John Cazale. Yet Cazale was a good supporting player on many of the historical film classics of the 70's as with his help each film that he appeared in "The Godfather", "Godfather II", "The Conversation", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "The Deer Hunter" all received academy award nominations for best picture. The doc also tells of his humble start on Broadway as a struggling actor as he worked his way up to get noticed. Interviews and insights are given from greats like Steve Buscemi, Coppola, De Niro, Dreyfuss, Sidney Lumet, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman. Also revealing and touching is the interview with the great Meryl Streep who had a brief romance with John on the set of his last film "The Deer Hunter"(1978), this is when Cazale would learn he was eat up with bone cancer and die shortly thereafter. Touching tribute that was overdue and it educated and informed many who didn't know anything about John Cazale as it showed if he had lived as to what might have been.

Insightful, but much too short celebration of a great actor; lots of famous actors of equal talent get to pay homage; makes you want re-watch all of John Cazale's films.

The biggest shock to me when viewing I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale was coming to the realization that this actor, who I had been watching over and over again in some of my favorite films ever, had actually only made five films. Five! The greatest period of American Cinema is undoubtedly the "Hollywood Renaissance," spanning from the introduction of "Easy Rider" up until the blockbuster phenomenon created by films like "Jaws" and "Star Wars," and all five films John Cazale appeared in were made during this creative period in which writers and directors had more to say about what happened in a film than the studio heads. "The Godfather," "The Conversation," "The Godfather Two," "Dog Day Afternoon," "and "The Deer Hunter," the five films that make up the John Cazale catalog, are some of the greatest and most memorable films ever made in this country. And if you don't know who John Cazale is by name, then perhaps you know him by at least one of the five characters he played on screen, most likely the frail, weakest son of the Corleone family in The Godfather, "Fredo."

Just about anyone and everyone that ever acted or worked with Cazale appears in this documentary, including Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Gene Hackman, Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos, Sidney Lumet, Carol Kane, Jon Savage, Richard Dreyfuss, Israel Horovitz, Olympia Dukakis and Meryl Streep, who we learn had a longstanding love affair with Cazale and was with him until he died of lung cancer at 42. Younger actors like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi, who grew up watching Cazale's films, also contribute, helping to articulate Cazale's relevance. With this caliber of contributors, this film quickly gets to the crux of who Cazale was as actor, as well as a human being. And though this documentary is only an hour long (It was made for HBO), it is still a dense, powerful story of a man, an actor, that was able to make a permanent mark on American Cinema that will resonate for as long as movies exist.

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