The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee

While there may not be too much in this film that admirers of Sir Christopher Lee won’t be aware of, apart from maybe his love of heavy metal in his later years, the presentation is novel, to say the least.

Casting Peter Serafinowicz as Lee and using a black and white marionette to represent the actor, was a masterstroke by writer, and director Jon Spira, creating a highly original visual documentary, which doesn’t overwhelm the subject. These elements fit in perfectly with the traditional talking head format.
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And here Spira has come up with the goods with new interviews with the likes of John Landis, Peter Jackson and others. There’s a level of enthusiasm, love and affection for Lee’s work and his character that is a joy to behold when these people are talking.

The story is well known born of an aristocratic family his lineage is traced back then forward using some Pythonesque animation. And here is where the documentary does have something more to offer with contributions from his family providing valuable insight into his early years.

His war and post war years are covered but with little detail. Simply there isn’t any as he remained tight lipped for the rest of his life.

The documentary is linear so there’s no hopping around all over the place. Though there is an understandable diversion into the creation of Hammer and the fading American stars who made their way to Europe and the UK for a cheque. The latter is relevant as Lee too had lean years and forced to take what work there was.

Dracula can’t be skipped though his frustration with the shadow that character had over his career was all to obvious when he was asked about it after he was knighted in 2009, 30 years after he last played him.

His move to America proved fruitful with plenty of work and he enjoyed Hollywood. Only to be cut short by illness and return to London.

Its here in his later years where Lee’s career becomes arguably more interesting for him and the audience. He was cast in two of the most successful franchises in cinema history Star Wars and The Lord of The Rings. Easy to suggest that these were similar roles but then Lee was cast as Jinnah in 1998, a role he says he was most proud of.

Then there were his metal years when he sang and composed for his Charlamagne project that earned him an award with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Awards for his film career were overall scant though he had lifetime achievements and his knighthood given far too late in life.

This is a highly original, boundary pushing documentary that befits an actor who had a very long, varied and fascinating career.

The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee received its world premiere at London Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, 25 August 2024.