It’s the kind of move that could be regarded as lazy or tentative in some circumstances, but Baumbach and Paltrow are shrewd enough to recognise that a director known for his technical flourishes needs room to breathe; and besides, De Palma and his movies are interesting enough subjects that they hardly need further embellishment. De Palma takes us through the director’s movies in chronological order, all the better to see his growth as a filmmaker – and how the setbacks in his career affected its trajectory as much as the successes. His first studio movie, Get To Know Your Rabbit (1972) was such a bruising experience that De Palma retreated to low-budget filmmaking with the psychological thriller Sisters (1973) – the first in a string of genre movies that are by turns aggressive, operatic and controversial. The veteran director proves to be an unflinchingly honest interviewee throughout Baumbach and Paltrow’s documentary – the combative, even surly demeanour of interviews from his early years mellowing here to wry candour. The filmmakers have evidently sat with De Palma for many hours, gradually winning his trust and, it seems, his respect as fellow directors. There’s a moment when, during his reminiscences about the 1993 gangster film Carlito’s Way, De Palma says, “You’ve had this, right? Where actors get fixated on a single scene?” What De Palma does offer is a new appreciation of the breadth and depth of its subject’s career, and how his technical intelligence fed into some of the intricate scenes of suspense in American cinema. De Palma not only delves into how several of these moments were conceived – the extraordinary rotating shot in Blow Out, the extended prom sequence in Carrie – but also offers some fascinating insights into what went on behind the scenes. De Palma’s memories of what went on with the cast of Obsession are hilarious, and go some way to explaining the variable quality of the leading performances in that movie. Look out, too, for some great anecdotes about De Palma’s clashes with screenwriter Robert Towne on Mission: Impossible. In looking back on his work, De Palma displays an amusing air of satisfaction over his achievements – “It was pleasing to see them make all the mistakes I managed to avoid” he says of the various Carrie remakes – and sober reflections on the movies that didn’t go to plan. Now in his 70s, De Palma’s philosophical about the effects of age on creativity, and the directors’ handling of these more introspective moments is disarmingly intimate. De Palma is out in UK cinemas on the 23rd September.