A new documentary premiering at Sundance reveals the man behind the iconic Superman cape.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story chronicles the late actor's meteoric rise to fame as the Man of Steel, his tragic horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed, and his rebirth as a disability rights activist. It contains extensive archival footage and interviews with Reeve's inner circle, including his children Will, Matthew and Alexandra.
“You might think you know Superman or the Lawyer or whatever version of Christopher Reeve you think you know, but then you see him as a father,” said Will Reeve, Christopher Reeve's youngest son, at the Sundance Portrait and Interview presented by TheWrap Studio NFP.
Reeve's children were intimately involved in the documentary, giving the filmmakers full access to personal archives while offering their own poignant perspectives. Alexandra found the sight of private home videos deeply moving.
“One of the joys is that they discovered so much archival material. “So there are the clips of the original audition for Superman, interviews with Dad from the '70s and '80s when we were little kids,” said Reeve's daughter Alexandra Reeve Givens.
“Seeing him at the height of his fame and even old home movies that we hadn't spent much time with – suddenly we're discovering those moments and seeing them on the big screen. All of that together was really beautiful and powerful,” she added.
The film is also a tribute to Reeve's wife, Dana, who cared for him after his injury and became an influential activist in her own right before dying of cancer.
“The most emotional parts of the film are the interviews and conversations about their experiences with our father and Dana,” said Matthew Reeve, Christopher Reeve's eldest son. “It was important to step back and let the filmmakers do their thing to do historical justice with that element of objectivity.”
“What touches me more than anything and what I'm so proud of is the way the filmmakers tell my mother's story, the way my mother Dana plays a role in this documentary because she is in our lives played as big a role as you would expect,” Will said Reeve.
“As much as it is an honor to be the son of Christopher Reeve, I am also the son of Dana Reeve,” added Will Reeve. “Every time I get to tell her story and share with the world what a unique force she was, I feel so proud.”
According to co-director Ian Bonhôte, capturing the complexity of Reeve's journey in a single film was a huge challenge. But with full access to the family's personal archives, the result is an intimate portrait that shows both his towering achievements and his private struggles.
“The excitement isn't a single moment, it's the whole thing – how do you bring together the complexity, the entire life, the great moments and tragedies of a person in 90 minutes?” said Bonhôte.
By highlighting Reeves' unexpected transformation into an activist, the documentary aims to reintroduce new generations to a 20th-century icon who learned the true meaning of heroism.
“When he becomes severely disabled, he realizes that he can use his 'superpowers' to do real good and make change in the world,” said co-director Peter Ettedgui.
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” premieres this week. The film is a sales title and is aiming for distribution.
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The article “Superman” star Christopher Reeve’s children are happy to finally be able to tell the story of both their parents in the new documentary | The video first appeared on TheWrap.