AllMovie

Mongolia-born documentary director Paul Cronin explores the frustratingly finite but hugely influential cinematic legacy of British filmmaker Peter Whitehead though extended interviews with his subject and images shot by the man himself. A gifted storyteller who was elevated from newsreel cameraman to cultural icon as a result of Wholly Communion - his 1965 document of American beat poets Allan Ginsburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Gregory Corso's landmark appearance at London's Royal Albert Hall - Cronin would become the first person to capture performances by The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd on film before turning his back on celluloid. Additional conversations about Whitehead's historically indispensable Columbia University footage and the manner in which technology drove him away from filmmaking make this the definitive portrait of the iconic 20th Century filmmaker.