Horst Buchholz... mein Papa

After the death of the once popular German film star, Horst Buchholz, his son talks with family members (his mother, his sister,and the actor's sister) to build an intimate and moving portrait of a man who was at once engagingly open to the world and also somewhat reclusive and evasive.The portrait benefits a from home movies and earlier one on one interviews the son had done with the actor, plus clips.Though perhaps due to the cost and difficulty of negotiating rights to some of the actor's English language movies we only see excerpts from 8 German films and one Italian one.Conspicuously absent, given the importance in introducing the foreign performer to American viewers and in reinforcing his popularity abroad when it became a hit in Europe, is any mention of The Magnificent Seven. There are interesting tidbits on how Buchholz missed out on two opportunities to act for Luchino Visconti, and on his relationships outside marriage with both other women and with men, something his wife is revealing and even forgiving about but which the actor himself discusses only in vague terms.Buchholz felt that part of why his star faded during the era of new German Cinema, the 7os and 8os, is that the makers of those films didn,t want to use older established players, but that was certainly not the case say with R W Fassbinder.All in all, if you found this actor in his prime at least compelling, you will want to seek out this documentary.