F*** You All: The Uwe Boll Story (2018) – Review

Uwe Boll is probably one of the most hated directors ever. This German is now no longer behind the camera (he runs a number of restaurants), but his films have caused a lot of controversy through the years. When directing he was someone who did not avoid controversy and at one point even stood in the boxing ring against film critics after he had challenged them to fight or simply shut up about his films. In this documentary, director Sean Patrick Shaul looks at this man, his films and the people he worked with.

Even if you know little about Uwe Boll, you already have a certain image of him, like his rough and controversial statements or the negative reviews of his films. These are topics that are also discussed here, but fortunately not as one-sided as reporting on Boll normally is. Actors with whom he has worked, including Keith David and Brendan Fletcher, are interviewed, but also business partners and a scriptwriter who talks about her experiences.

 What emerges in this documentary is that, despite all the negativity, Boll has always managed to work with well-known actors during his career and once he decided to work completely independently, he managed to convince others to invest money in his ideas. It is also clear, that he says what he thinks and when it comes to filmmaking he wanted to work quickly, even if that meant that a script was not yet finished. He even shot three movies at the same location to save costs, even though the result wasn’t good. Still, he managed to earn money with his titles and he stopped once streaming started becoming popular, simply because the sales model has become so different, not able to recoup through selling physical copies. This documentary manages to turn this widely hated director into a person who you might understand a bit better. You won’t change your opinion on his films because of this documentary, but showing the man behind the character Uwe Boll results in a very interesting film.

[score8]