Roth on Roth

About The Film

In this surprisingly candid documentary, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Philip Roth offers filmmakers William Karel and Livia Manera unprecedented access to his prolific career. Based on eight hours of interviews with the often elusive and reclusive author, Roth provides expansive insights into his writing methods, reflections on mortality, struggles with depression and near suicide-inducing back pain, and often controversial body of work. The scandalous content of such novels as Portnoy’s Complaint and Goodbye, Columbus made Roth a lightning rod for criticism. Dogged by the label “self-hating Jew,” Roth draws heavily on his life experiences and Jewish upbringing, while insisting, “I don’t write Jewish, I write American.” Additional perspectives are furnished by friends, including Mia Farrow, whose childhood battle with polio inspired Roth to write Nemesis. ROTH ON ROTH is a rare and moving profile of the most decorated American writer living today.