“Smash His Camera” is a documentary film which looks at the life and career of paparazzi Ron Galella. Director Leon Gast (“When We Were Kings” 1996) put together this wildly entertaining movie which is basically a 90-minute interview with Galella, who discusses his notoriously bold moves to photograph celebrities, which he calls “my artwork.” It was produced by DreamWorks Pictures and HBO Documentary Films, aired on the HBO channel.
Gast and Galella especially zero in on two lawsuits from Jackie Onassis and the time Marlon Brando punched him in the face, knocking out five teeth. His financial award from the Brando lawsuit basically covered legal fees and dentist bills. They also visited his archives of over three million photographs, at an undisclosed location, with rows and rows of boxes labeled with the name of the celebrity subject, everybody from Princess Grace of Monaco to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who was so impressed by the quality of Ron’s photos that she utilized them for her family.
Director Gast and Galella discussed numerous topics including the ethics of papparazzi culture, the First Amendment vs. right to privacy, evolution of celebrity culture, and his obsession with Jackie Onassis. His most famous photograph is “windblown Jackie.” The name of the movie was from Jackie O herself telling Secret Service agents to “smash his camera” when Ron Galella was bothering them on the streets of New York City.
Smash His Camera (2010)
cinema
My Review
“Smash His Camera” is a documentary film which looks at the life and career of paparazzi Ron Galella. Director Leon Gast (“When We Were Kings” 1996) put together this wildly entertaining movie which is basically a 90-minute interview with Galella, who discusses his notoriously bold moves to photograph celebrities, which he calls “my artwork.” It was produced by DreamWorks Pictures and HBO Documentary Films, aired on the HBO channel.
Gast and Galella especially zero in on two lawsuits from Jackie Onassis and the time Marlon Brando punched him in the face, knocking out five teeth. His financial award from the Brando lawsuit basically covered legal fees and dentist bills. They also visited his archives of over three million photographs, at an undisclosed location, with rows and rows of boxes labeled with the name of the celebrity subject, everybody from Princess Grace of Monaco to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who was so impressed by the quality of Ron’s photos that she utilized them for her family.
Director Gast and Galella discussed numerous topics including the ethics of papparazzi culture, the First Amendment vs. right to privacy, evolution of celebrity culture, and his obsession with Jackie Onassis. His most famous photograph is “windblown Jackie.” The name of the movie was from Jackie O herself telling Secret Service agents to “smash his camera” when Ron Galella was bothering them on the streets of New York City.