The 58th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival got underway last night with a screening at the Castro Theater of “Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine”, director Alex Gibney’s warts-and-all look at the life of the co-founder of Apple and the man most responsible for what’s in your pocket or on your desk right now.
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Gibney begins his exploration wondering why a person who seemed so aloof to many generated such a deep emotional response upon his passing. The film goes back to Jobs’s early days and via archival footage, taped court depositions and new interviews gives us a somewhat deeper look into Jobs and the contradictions at play within that world.
Some have seen this film as a hatchet job on Jobs, but I found it a well-balanced look that gave Jobs credit where credit was due, but laid bare some of the abysmal behavior (both in his professional life and personal relationships) that is less well known.
Gibney was in attendance at the screening and participated in a short Q & A after the film’s somewhat lengthy run (127 minutes.)
After the screening, it was off to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf for the Opening Night Party where finger foods and long drink lines could be found. I had my doubts about this location, but parking was fairly easy to find and the venue itself was kind of fun. Someone made a terrible error and let me into the VIP lounge, but that didn’t mean the drink line was any shorter.
Just as well, as it was a (fairly) early evening for me, and I turned the coverage reins over to Peter Warden for a day or two. His reports will be posted shortly…
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