Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)

We are taken though the principal milestones of Hopper's biography, including his debut start in Hollywood, the meeting with James Dean and the influence he played upon him, his insubordination on sets and conflicts with the Hollywood directors which led to his black-listing, the years in New, the making of 'Easy Rider' (with an interesting connection of the ultimate road movie with the French new wave directors), 'Apocalypse Now', 'Blue Velvet', 'Colors', his fight with dependency on drugs and alcohol. We come to know Hopper as a complex artist, a valuable photographer who had always a camera on him and whose portraits or American life shots figure among the best in the genre, but also a rebel painter (who may still be rediscovered and become famous in posterity) and exquisite art collector.

Directed by Henning Lohner, Ariane Riecker, Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) leans on a strong ensemble — Dennis Hopper, David Lynch, Sean Penn — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2003.