The first official trailer for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is now online, and it's an undeniably emotional watch.
Directed by McQueen filmmakers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, the documentary focuses on the extraordinary life and career of the legendary actor, who is still widely regarded as our best big-screen (or small, for that matter) take on the Man of Steel yet.
Reeve played Clarke Kent/Superman in four movies, and his performances remain just as influential and inspirational today. The actor also appeared in numerous other movies after hanging up the cape, before his fateful injury in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralysed from the neck down.
Following his accident, Reeve became a tireless activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care – while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera.
“It is a gift. We’re so lucky,” Reeve's son Matthew tells Variety. “We not only have his films to look at but a collection of home movies to dig up and go through and interviews on YouTube of him to pull up. Seeing things I hadn’t seen before didn’t change my perception of him but enhanced it…like some rare Australian interview done in 1977 that was uploaded and I didn’t know existed. It was pretty cool to see that and uncover a lot more material than we knew about.”
Check out the trailer below... and keep a tissue handy!
"A nuanced and inspirational account of the life-changing legacy of leading man turned disability activist Christopher Reeve.
Reeve found global fame as Hollywood’s era-defining Superman in the 1970s, but his life was forever altered when he was paralysed from the neck down following a 1995 spinal injury. From his beginnings as a theatre actor to his global superstardom to his life of post-accident advocacy, this beautiful, open-hearted portrait weaves together a warming cinematic blanket of archival footage, home movies, interviews with friends and family, the recurring presence of long-time pal Robin Williams, and Reeve himself narrating from his 1999 autobiography Still Me.
Inspiring a standing ovation at its Sundance premiere, this emotional cine-portrait is as complex, and at times conflicted, as Reeve himself. While chronicling the struggles and controversies that Reeve encountered after 1995, directors Ian Bonhôte (McQueen, MIFF 2018) and Peter Ettedgui also position the actor as a figure to explore disability advocacy and under-acknowledged struggles within the disabled community. Both Super/Man and its titular figure are powerful vessels of empathy and humanity."
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is set to premiere in the U.S. on Saturday, September 21, with encore presentations taking place on September 25, which is Reeve’s birthday. Fans in the UK will be able to see the film in cinemas on November 1.