Norman Mailer remains a towering figure among 20th century writers and intellectuals and Jeff Zimbalist with his documentary “How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer” knew exactly what kind of doc Mailer would have wanted.

Forget that “Come Alive” opens with an enraged Mailer stabbing his wife Adele – the second of six wives who gave him nine children – and being committed to Bellevue’s psychiatric ward.

Forget his notoriety and many physical fights – including being hammered by actor Rip Torn who, immersed in full Method during filming their independent movie “Maidstone,” really attacked Mailer.

For this first documentary with full cooperation from Mailer’s family, Zimbalist had access to family archives, never-before-seen footage and recordings.

“I was born in Cambridge and grew up in Northampton. My dad taught at Smith College,” Zimbalist, 45, began in a Zoom interview. “I was raised by Jewish intellectuals and artists.

“I have a lot of similarities with Norman’s upbringing:  First generation immigrants who survived the Holocaust, lived in New York and became artists and intellectuals.

“In my teens I read Mailer who represented unabashed artistic courage.  His idea was that in order to deeply understand the human condition, to understand our creative capacity, we have to be less afraid of what other people think of our ideas and behaviors.

“That influenced me. Flash forward 20-plus years and Mailer’s family reached out to me about making a documentary to be released on his 100th birthday if he were alive.”

Speaking with two of the kids, “I told them why I thought it would be an interesting creative process. Not to mention we’re living a time of polarization and fear of cancel culture and Mailer’s ideas were so prophetic.

“Right upfront I said I’m not interested in doing a survey of Mailer’s works or a celebration of an intellectual legacy. I’m much more interested in using Mailer’s life to understand big questions.

“Namely, this love/hate relationship that we have as a country with complex, provocative ideas.

“To do that film you paint a complex, provocative, ‘warts and all,’ portrait That means Mailer’s flaws, his massive ego and mistakes.

“I said, You don’t have to love Mailer to be ignited by his mind. And you don’t have to hate Mailer to learn from his mistakes.

“To my surprise, they said, ‘Yes, that’s what dad would have wanted.’

“Danielle was in that call – and she was a little girl in the house when her dad stabbed her mom.

“She said on that first call, ‘If this is warts and all, why don’t we start with the stabbing?’ That bold approach really aligned with what I was interested in doing.”

“How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer” opens at the Coolidge Corner Theatre Aug. 16. His daughters Betsy and Maggie Mailer will do a Q&A session following the 7 p.m. show Aug. 19