by SARAH ROWLAND

To say that Albert Maysles has a knack for being at the right place at the right time would be an understatement. In 1960, the virtually unknown cinematographer was commissioned to follow J.F.K. and Hubert Humphrey during the Democratic leadership race for the film Primary. Four years and one dead Kennedy later, Albert and his partner/brother/sound technician David were hired to chronicle the Fab Four’s first visit to the States for What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A.

With peace, love and presidential assassinations behind them, Albert and David were asked to shoot the Stones’ first post-Brian Jones U.S. tour. The result was the 1970 revolutionary rockumentary Gimme Shelter, in which they not only captured a stage-side murder on camera, but also the intense drama of Mick and Keith narrowly escaping Altamont with their scarves intact. What’s more impressive is the Maysles brothers produced these revealing cinematic portraits without the aid of whiplash editing techniques or overbearing narrative personalities, something that we rarely see in today’s documentaries. Yet surprisingly, Albert doesn’t think his minimal interference approach to reality filmmaking is a lost art.

“Well, it was never found,” says the 71-year-old cinéma-vérité legend with a chuckle. He’s calling from his New York office in between working on several different films, including The Jew on Trial, an investigative project that sets out to dispel the myth that Jews have killed Christian children so they could use their blood in Passover matzos. He’s also gearing up to present a filmmaking seminar at the upcoming Montreal Jewish Film Festival. The event is open to the public, though fans of Michael Moore’s gonzo style journalism need not apply. “I don’t know why but in America, non-fiction filmmakers are pretty much committed to the host as the voice of God. But documentary at its best should give you a feeling of actually being there. To do that you just need to film people experiencing things, rather than depending on voice-over, relying on interviews or using music to dramatize things—all of which are just distractions and excuses for not being at the right place at the right time.”

Beatles, bibles and brotherly love

Maysles claims, however, that most of his impeccable timing is due to nothing more than “luck.” To wit: “I’m sitting at my desk in my studio, February 1964, and the phone rings,” he recalls. “It’s Granada TV in England asking me if I’d like to make a film about the Beatles. They’re arriving in America in two hours. So I put my hand over the phone, turned to my brother and asked ‘Who are the Beatles? Are they any good?’ He says, ‘Oh yeah, they’re great.’ So we make the deal, rush to the airport just in time to film the plane coming down.”

Another example of their good fortune is the groundbreaking Salesman, a behind-the-scenes look at four door-to-door bible peddlers. This quintessential piece of Americana probably would have been an average, albeit beautifully photographed, documentary, had it not been for the added drama of their star salesman having a nervous breakdown on camera. Which could explain why the U.S. Library of Congress listed the 1969 masterpiece as one of the 25 most important American films of all time. For Albert, however, such accolades and honours are often overshadowed by memories of David, who passed away suddenly 18 years ago.

“Every time I think about that film, I think about working with my brother,” he says, before taking a long pause. “We were two lives that began together almost at the same time and looking back on our body of work is a recapitulation of that relationship. I have collaborated with other people since his passing and the work itself is still up to the same standards… but of course it can never be the same as working with him.”

Eye for details and toes

And his brother didn’t just offer emotional support. Back when heavy camera equipment anchored its operator to the lens, David was like a second eye for Albert. For example, during one of Gimme Shelter’s most contemplative scenes, in which the Stones are in the studio listening to the playback of “Wild Horses,” Albert would have kept the camera focused on Keith nodding off to the sound of his own guitar playing if it weren’t for David.

“My brother whispered to me, ‘Take a look at those snakeskin boots.’ So I opened my left eye and zoomed in at just the right second.”

While this moment of toe-tapping contemplation is one of his favourites, Albert doesn’t think it’s the film’s best.

“The best one is the one I didn’t get,” he says. “As we were crossing the hills early in the morning on our way to Altamont, we came to a fence. So we began pulling the fence down and at that moment Keith made the comment: ‘The first act of violence’…. and I missed it. I missed it. I missed it.”

Albert Maysles presents his Master Class at the NFB Cinema at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15, $10 for adults/$7 for students

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