As acclaimed actor Val Kilmer passed away yesterday, I thought it might be time to visit his intimate portrait of his life, shot using 1000s of hours of video he had recorded from his earliest days making home movies with his brothers, carrying on through his time on sets, then finishing after his recovery from cancer at home with his two older children. 

The documentary shines a light on how completely misunderstood Val Kilmer was as an actor. Yes he may have been difficult on set but this was always in the service of the quality of the film he was starring in. He was a passionate person in everything he did, it’s just a real shame that the industry never gave him the same consistent high quality roles as his contemporaries such as Cruise, Bacon and Penn. I think this is a mix of luck, the financial state his father left him in toward the beginning of his career, and the incorrect “difficult” status that I’m sure is hard to shake in that small town of Hollywood. It’s not for want of trying, he sent audition tapes to some of the best directors in the world for what become some of the best characters in cinema, but he was often looked over.

I cannot imagine having access to this much footage of my own life. How fascinating it must be to be able to look back at key moments of your life, be able to watch your own parents back on the film you’ve shot and have them come to life again. Reminded me a lot of one of the main themes of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Camera Buff which talks about how once someone has been filmed on the moving image they are forever immortalised. Watching Val talk about losing his brother at such a young age and how that affected his whole family so deeply, it becomes apparent that Val is very much a family man. His relationship with his two children is so touching; Jack is a mini-Val in almost every way; and Mercedes is the spitting image of his ex-wife Joanne Whalley. These relationships he still has touched me tremendously that toward the end I was tearing up.

Now that he has unfortunately passed on, looking at his career he had a number of top top performances, often stealing the show in huge cast ensembles such as Tombstone and Heat, which is easily one of the greatest films of all time in my opinion. The character of Chris is the heart of the movie, Pacino and De Niro are the central force driving the film forward but it’s Chris’ relationship with Charlene (played by Ashley Judd) that gives the film its soul.

Val is a very well directed documentary, it feels like one of those actor autobiographies that you just can’t put down. So many interesting little tidbits of his life and career pop up, whilst also some deeply thought-provoking meditations on where is career is at now that he can hardly speak. Whilst Cruise is having such an incredible continued career, Kilmer is struggling to sign autographs at a comic-con. The music in this is also sublime, raising emotion from you at just the right moments, loved this score.

Overall it’s a fitting epilogue to a truly great man, and a wonderful father. A man struck down with some of the worst luck possible, from being in one of the worst Batman films, working with his hero Brando in the mess that is The Island of Dr Moreau, and to getting cancer at such a young age. Kilmer will still live forever on our screens, appearing in some of the most iconic films of all time, and he shall be missed.