''Leuchtturm des Chaos'' ( en, Pharos of Chaos or ''Lighthouse of Chaos'') is a 1983 documentary profile of the American actor

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

(1916–1986).

Synopsis

The film features discussions with Hayden concerning his life and career, intercut with clips and stills from his films. It follows the actor through several long and digressive afternoon conversations with the German filmmakers aboard the

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

in France on which he was living. Hayden smokes

hashish Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...

and drinks heavily throughout, telling the filmmakers that they "have a record of exactly what alcoholism is". Hayden recounts his shame at having co-operated with the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

during the

Second Red Scare McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

, his pride in his achievements as a sailor, and adopts a scornful attitude toward his illustrious career as a Hollywood film icon.

Critical reception

The film was shown at the 1983

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

, where it was one of a few

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

s singled out for praise by critic Steve McIntyre in an otherwise disappointing event. In a review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', critic

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

cited the film as an example of "documentary film making ... at its most laissez faire", lamenting that "Every discussion is allowed to proceed far beyond its natural conclusion". She criticised the filmmakers' reluctance to rein in Hayden's "diffuseness of thought", "stilted" cinematography, inclusion of trivial and uninteresting details from the interviews, and their nonchalant and distanced attitude toward the actor. Maslin's review concludes:

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0085835 1983 films 1983 documentary films German documentary films West German films Documentary films about actors 1980s English-language films 1980s German films