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Documentary on Netflix: Schwarzenegger on ups and downs
An eventful life, an eventful career: Arnold Schwarzenegger. photo
© Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa
Less muscles, more words: In “Arnold” action star Arnold Schwarzenegger shows a different side. In the three-part documentary on Netflix, he talks about important moments in his life.
As “Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger coined the legendary phrase “I’ll be back” (I’ll be back). The action star is keeping the promise for the second time in just a few months on Netflix.
Since the end of May, Schwarzenegger can be seen in his first series lead role in the streaming giant. In the action comedy series “FUBAR”, Arnie lets it rip as a CIA agent in the tried and tested manner. In contrast, “Arnold”, available on Netflix since June 7, is more thoughtful.
In the three-part documentary series, the 75-year-old talks about his difficult childhood in Austria, his career as a bodybuilder and Hollywood star, his political career as governor of California and, of course, about scandals and his headline-grabbing love and family life. In the promotional trailer for the miniseries, he candidly admits that people will remember his successes and his failures.
His biggest mistake
Companions, journalists, friends and critics have their say, but ex-wife Maria Shriver is not among the interviewees. In 1986, the policeman’s son from Graz married Kennedy’s niece. They have four children together, the oldest daughter is 33 and the youngest son is 25 years old. In 2011, shortly after their 25th wedding anniversary, they surprisingly announced their separation.
Shortly before, Schwarzenegger had confessed to his wife a long-hidden affair when it could no longer be hidden. Shriver asked him directly in a therapy session whether he had fathered a child with the couple’s housekeeper. “I thought my heart stopped and then I told the truth,” says Schwarzenegger in the documentary. For 15 years he had kept his 25-year-old son Joseph Baena secret from her. The affair was his biggest mistake.
He caused his family a lot of grief and that will now accompany him to the end of his life, the actor says remorsefully in the documentary trailer. But he proudly praises his illegitimate son as an extraordinary person whom he loves. Both often post photos together on Instagram, the resemblance to the youngest son is striking. Joseph Baena is already following in his father’s footsteps as a bodybuilder and with his first acting roles.
The director is US filmmaker Lesley Chilcott, who worked as a producer on the Oscar-winning environmental documentary “An Inconvenient Wahheit”. In “Arnold” Schwarzenegger is allowed to share some wisdom, such as how hard work can be used to achieve one’s goals “100 percent”.
allegations of sexual harassment
But he cannot avoid difficult topics. The documentary also looks back at allegations of sexual harassment made by several women in the Los Angeles Times in 2003, shortly before he was elected governor of California.
The allegations date back to 1975. Under intense pressure at the time, Schwarzenegger hesitantly admitted that he had “behaved badly” in the past and did things that weren’t right while filming “wild sets.” He considered them “playful”, he rowed back at the same time.
In the documentary, he now says more clearly that his behavior was wrong and inexcusable. A reporter has her say, who once again describes the newspaper’s explosive investigations.
Schwarzenegger posted a video clip from the documentary on Instagram on Tuesday, in which he paid tribute to late fitness mentors and directors such as Ivan Reitman (“Twins”) and Bob Rafelson (“Mr. Universum”). He is indebted to so many people who have helped him. You can call him “Arnie”, “Schnitzel” or “Kraut”, “but please never say ‘self-made man'”. He really isn’t.