METALLICA: 'Monster' Filmmaker Discusses New Book

Filmmaker Joe Berlinger, co-creator of the documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster", recently spoke to MTV.com about his decision to write a book about his experience working on the movie.

"This Monster Lives", co-written with Greg Milner, analyzes the ethical and creative quandaries Berlinger and partner Bruce Sinofsky encountered, including whether the presence of their cameras affected the outcome of the therapy sessions; whether allowing a band to pay for its own movie taints the filmmakers' credibility; and whether becoming chummy with the subjects of a documentary compromises the film's objectivity. Ultimately, Berlinger concludes that both the filmmakers and their subjects operated differently than they might have in other circumstances. However, he adds that the process was inspiring, healing and unifying for everyone involved, and that METALLICA consider the making of "Some Kind of Monster" as important to their recovery as the therapy sessions with performance-enhancement coach Phil Towle.

"Surely, without the work of Phil Towle, METALLICA would not exist today," Berlinger told MTV.com. "But Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] has taken it a step further and said that without the film, the band would not exist. He feels the rolling cameras during these therapy sessions enabled the therapy sessions, and that METALLICA would have just bullsh--ted each other, stormed out of rooms and not continued talking if they weren't being filmed."

Berlinger has several projects of his own in the works, including a possible collaboration with Ulrich. "Like METALLICA, Bruce and I learned during the making of 'Some Kind of Monster' that we can have our own separate careers and cheer each other on," Berlinger said. "It's not an all-or-nothing thing." Read more.