Trilogy Video - Portland, Oregon | Northwest Portland Video Store

Film directors are such interesting creatures. With that said, our choice this month is that “Jersey Boy” and Bruce Springsteen fan, Brian De Palma.

It was a beautiful September day back in 1940 when Brian arrived into his Italian-American family. His father was a surgeon and young Brian showed his interests and intelligence early. In high school he won the top prize in a regional Science Fair with his project “An Analog Computer to Solve Differential Equations”. After graduating from Friends Central School, a Quaker school in the Philadelphia suburbs, he entered college majoring in Physics. By this time, Brian had already developed his love for films and began making short films.

He enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College to continue his study of film and was taught by many film makers including Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock. Throughout his career, Brian has continued his homage to Hitchcock using similar locations, camera techniques and casting blonde leading ladies. His first success came with the film Sisters in 1973.

Over the years, Brian has demonstrated his cinematic predilection for voyeurism, for doppelgangers and for femme fatales. He has said “I have a reputation as an action director because I know how to kill, how to shoot people and how to spill blood”. But, he has also produced some very good comedies as well.

While he has not always been heralded for his efforts (6 Razzie Award Nominations) he continues to make films and to share his vision with the world. We are pleased to feature him as our director of the month and hope you will view any of the following films. Enjoy!

Director of the Month: November 2008