There are no words in the dictionary that can perfectly describe late Christopher Lee’s career in the film industry. With over 250 films to his name, the actor was a force to reckon with. Even though it has almost been a decade since he passed away, Christopher Lee’s legacy still lives on, and his fans will finally get to learn more about him in an upcoming documentary on his life.
Titled The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee, the documentary is directed by Jon Spira, who has access to the actor’s scrapbooks and interviews from the British Institute’s library. However, this is no ordinary documentary, just as Christopher Lee was no ordinary man.
A Documentary Gives Insight into Christopher Lee’s Life
The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee is narrated by a string puppet of Christopher Lee, voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. It features interviews with John Landis, Joe Dante, and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who reminisce about the late actor.
In an interview with BBC about his film, director Jon Spira explained the reason behind putting ‘Deaths’ in the title instead of death stating,
“You could almost do this as two films. That’s why we called it The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee, because his life is one story and his career is another.”
The documentary gives fans a look into Lee’s extraordinary life where he achieved the kind of feats that set him apart from all the actors that have been and are a part of the film industry. Take a look at the trailer below:
The film talks about his time in the military during the second world war where Lee helped track down Nazi war criminals. As a young boy, Lee met the assassins of Grigori Rasputin, became one of the last witnesses to see a public guillotine execution, and was the only person in the Lord of the Rings films who had the privilege of meeting JRR Tolkien.
Needless to say, Lee’s life was an obvious choice to be turned into a democracy. The man was a real-life James Bond, after all. Fun fact, Lee was the step-cousin of Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond spy novels, and served alongside him in the war. According to Express, Fleming admitted that Lee was one of the inspirations behind the character of James Bond.
Spira told BBC,
“His cousin was Ian Fleming, and a lot of people think the character of James Bond was based on him. He certainly didn’t do anything to disavow people of that.”
While Lee had all the attributes needed to play Agent 007 in the films, he actually went on to play the main antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga, in The Man with the Golden Gun which had Roger Moore playing Bond.
Peter Jackson Talks About Christopher Lee
While talking to BBC, Spira revealed that Peter Jackson didn’t hold back when it came to expressing his love for the late actor. He talked about how he was in awe of Lee and was such a huge fan that he couldn’t comprehend the fact that the two would be working together.
Spira said,
“Peter Jackson was very prepared to talk about the emotional side. About how amazed he was as a film fan, in awe of Christopher Lee, and couldn’t believe he got to work with him. He discovered his unique insecurities, like many actors have.”
Lee and Jackson worked on the LOTR films where the actor played the role of Saruman.
Furthermore, Spira stated that Lee was a very complex and emotional person, and the documentary does not shy away from exploring this part of the legendary actor’s life.
You can pre-order The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee on Kickstarter.
