Peter Falk Versus Colombo

For millions of viewers, Peter Falk is Columbo: the eccentric, savvy and shrewd detective in his wrinkled trench coat confounding the powerful in their luxurious villas. Yet who is the man behind the character? Despite having been twice nominated for an Oscar, Falk’s unusual career still remains an enigma. This entertaining documentary looks at the life and career of Falk, from his growing up in a Bronx Jewish family to his collaborations with iconoclastic filmmaker John Cassavetes and culminating with his role as the ex-angel in Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire. Featuring many clips from his film and TV roles and interviews with director Steven Speilberg, actress Gena Rowlands, and eminent film scholar Annette Insdorf, this film sheds light on the actor’s life, and pays tribute to his immortal character of Lieutenant Columbo.

Preceded by Fault

For over two decades, Pascal Cuissot worked as a filmmaker, script writer, editor and script
doctor on around 30 documentary movies or documentary series in the fields of history and
science, always trying to !nd the best match between knowledge and story-telling.
Many of the projects he’s has been involved happened to be co-productions with different
countries such as, Canada for Methane Dream or Nightmare?, the US for Cléopatra’s Lost City or
The secrets of the Colosseum, Britain for the Azincourt, a Friday in hell, or Japan for Kheops,
mysterious discoveries.

Pascal Cuissot started in the movie industry at the Cinémathèque Française, learning editing,
film restoration before to make his first moves as an apprentice editor on movies directed by
Costa-Gavras and Jacques Perrin. As an editor, he contributed to numerous french TV projects
like Maigret or french TV series, but he also had a four years commitment as a senior editor for
Warner Bros International Televison.