Where was I when ladies wrestling was a regular fixture on broadcast television? Brett Whitcomb's new documentary GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling paints a picture of massive fame, if not fortune, experienced by these very 1980s ladies, plucked out of obscurity and placed in a televised ring of glory. The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (go ahead, try the link--you'll be amazed) filled the screen on Saturday mornings for years, offering an alternative, but no less campy, option to the testosterone fueled WWF (now WWE) of the time. Partly due to the program's day and time slot, the fan base that developed around GLOW was primarily made up of children, although, as one of the film's subjects points out, hung-over frat boys were a big part of that crowd, too.
As a film, GLOW has a lot of the essential elements in place. There's the undeniably oddball story of a Vegas-financed, all-female wrestling team, made up of mostly non-wrestlers who had to learn their trade on the job. Whitcomb has access to all the colorfully named personalities on hand: Mt. Fiji, Little Egypt, Matilda the Hun, Jailbait, and Big Bad Mama, to name just a few. And since we're talking about a television show, there's a ton of archival footage on hand, too, including one nasty looking injury and a large slathering of posturing in line with what we think of when we think of televised wrestling. If there's one thing missing from the story, it's the perspective of the fans; the size of GLOW's following is mentioned often, yet there's never any insight offered up from the rabid audience that developed around these Gorgeous Ladies.
Still, Whitcomb offers up a deep look into a forgotten moment from our not so distant pop culture past. A doc like GLOW promises on the surface to supply viewers with something to laugh at--and there's certainly more than enough ridiculous stuff to giggle about here--but, surprisingly, the film digs below the surface, unearthing a more emotional perspective than one expects from a documentary about ladies' wrestling. If you're not moved by the story of Mt. Fiji, you're not human. Even if you find wrestling exceedingly dull, the excitement that GLOW generates will spare you the sleeper hold.
GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling plays two-nights-only at the Hollywood Theatre beginning on Saturday, January 5th at 7pm. More info available here.
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Beauty is Embarrassing relays the weird, wonderful, and true story of Wayne White, a multidisciplinary artist whose chief goal is to inject strong doses of humor into the art scene. Exuberant and profane, White is best known for his puppet designs (and puppetry) for Pee Wee's Playhouse, as well as the music videos he made for Peter Gabriel ("Big Time") and Smashing Pumpkins ("Tonight, Tonight"). But the documentary also chronicles White's return to the world of painting, where he's become a bit of an overnight success with his word paintings, campy thrift store paintings re-contextualized by the bold and absurd statements ("Eastern Fuckit" and "Here Comes Mr. Know-It-All," for instance) that White paints on top of the original image.
Displaying a naked vulnerability for the cameras, White is certainly willing to perform, quite entertainingly at times, for director Neil Berkeley (The Cool School), but there are also plenty of unguarded moments as the artist discusses his upbringing, success, and the eventual burnout/breakdown that set in during his tenure in Hollywood. Ol' Pee Wee himself (Paul Reubens), Devo'sMark Mothersbaugh (who composed the music for Pee Wee's Playhouse), Matt Groening and a series of art critics show up to discuss White's work, but it's Wayne's wife, Mimi Pond (a cartoonist and writer--she wrote early episodes of The Simpsons), his parents, and his old friends who best convey the true beauty and restless energy that characterize both the man and his unbridled creative output.
This is a blindingly brilliant film, one that feels like it's tapped directly into the source of White's boundless forward drive. Berkeley has orchestrated an intimate and engaging portrait of a courageous soul who creates because he has no choice and knows no other way to exist. Beauty is Embarrassing thrills as much as it inspires, even those who are prolific in their chosen fields will walk away feeling like they could up their game after seeing Wayne White in action. Like the man it portrays, this film kicks serious ass.
Highly recommended.
Beauty is Embarrassing screens
at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art
Museum) on Friday, November 2nd at 7:30pm, Saturday, November 3rd at 7pm & 9pm, Sunday, November 4th at 4:45 & 7pm, and Monday, November 5th at 7:30pm. Wayne White will be in attendance for the Friday night show. More info available here.
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Born Jerome Felder, Doc Pomus was an extraordinary figure when he first hit the music scene, a white, Jewish blues singer paralyzed by polio as a child. The fact that his music was exceptional only added to the befuddlement of audiences and record executives. The new documentary AKA Doc Pomus delves into both the striking figure he was as a performer as well as the absolute phenom that he later became as a songwriter in the Brill Building scene of the early rock and roll era, penning such classics as "Save the Last Dance for Me,""This Magic Moment,""Little Sister,""A Teenager in Love," and countless more hits.
Drawing from a wealth of interviews ranging from conversations with his ex-wives and son to the many musicians whose paths intersected with Pomus (Ben E. King, Lou Reed, Shawn Colvin, B.B. King, Dion, etc.), the documentary paints Pomus as a sometimes tortured genius who was blessed with extended periods of reprieve from his sorrows while effortlessly drawing from them for lyrical inspiration. The endless soundtrack of hits speaks far more loudly than any of the interviews could about this man, responsible for so many of the songs that defined the times in which he lived.
If there's a fault to find, it's in the repetitive nature of the interviews as the discussion shifts to the end of Doc's life, something that commonly occurs in these kinds of biographical documentaries (see the otherwise fantastic Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? for another example of such missteps). Overall, AKA Doc Pomus is a treat for fans of both his songs and the particular era of rock and roll in which he wrote them.
AKA Doc Pomus screens
at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art
Museum) as a part of the Reel Music Festival series on Friday , October 12th at 7pm. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page.
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Photographic Memory marks the welcome return of documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee (Sherman's March, Time Indefinite). When McElwee first burst on the scene, his work was unique for the way it blurred the line between subject and maker; McElwee has always been front and center in his films, using the base materials of his life as narrative elements that guide his stories towards undetermined places.
For better or worse, his style has become a common strategy in
non-fiction filmmaking, so much so that when I recently tried to explain
who McElwee was to a friend, they responded, "so is he the one to blame
for Morgan Spurlock, then?" Which is kind of neither here nor there, as Spurlock has made good work in the past and has even shown some signs of growth in his recent projects.
McElwee, on the other hand, has never exploited his style in a
self-aggrandizing way; in fact, most of his films have been deeply
introspective, questioning his own flaws and always finding a larger
theme to anchor the overall piece.
Such is the case with Photographic Memory. The film finds McElwee struggling to understand and connect with his teenage son Adrian.
Ross shares the worries that many have about their kids, that they're
unfocused, lost, experimenting too heavily with drugs, alcohol, and
other risky behaviors. Adrian has many creative interests. Like his father, he's constantly filming himself and his friends (mostly while snowboarding backwards). He's also interested in web design and is trying to become an entrepreneur of sorts. But, as Ross points out, there are just far too many interests and only so much energy, so much of what the younger McElwee begins ends up poorly done or unfinished.
While questioning his son's behavior, McElwee begins to dive back into his own past to examine what he was up to when he was his son's age. The investigation sends him back to St. Quay-Portrieux in Brittany where he once worked as a photographer's assistant, before being fired in a mix-up about lost negatives. McElwee searches for his former employer as well as an old flame, ruminating on his past as he journeys through the familiar and forgotten spaces of the small French town by the sea.
Photographic Memory feels like a warm reunion with an old friend. If you've loved any of McElwee's prior works, you'll instantly be drawn back into the kind of unguarded, reflective video journals that McElwee is brave enough to share with his audiences. For those who have never encountered a Ross McElwee film, this is as good enough a place to start as any, as it certainly contains more than enough universally experienced material as it filters through its maker's most recent set of concerns.
Recommended.
Photographic Memory screens at the IFC Center in NYC on Friday, October 12th. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page.
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A long line of very young girls in bathing suits winds in and around the backstage of a theater. As the camera weaves through the queue each girl notices it, reflexively smiling or pivoting towards it and adopting a less natural pose than prior to their awareness of being captured by its lens. Thus begins Girl Model, the new documentary by David Redmon (Mardi Gras: Made in China) and Ashley Sabin (Intimidad), about the recruitment, exploitation, and, in many cases, abandonment of underage Siberian girls by unscrupulous modeling agencies seeking to sate the Japanese market's hunger for images of budding femininity.
Watching that opening, one is reminded of a cattle sale or the 4H tent at a state fair, as each girl lands the stage to be judged by former model Ashley Arbaugh and her fellow modeling scouts. Arbaugh becomes our guide through this world. She's a complex character, still suffering from the memories of her own journey through the meat grinder that is this trade, while continuing, despite her qualms, to supply the industry with young flesh to photograph. At this particular audition, Arbaugh ends up picking up 13-year old Nadya Vall for a contract on the Japanese market.
Like many of these girls, Nadya comes from an extremely poor family. We get to see how little she has at home and how the promise of riches from a successful modeling career could mean a lot to both her and her family. Even if she isn't able to find work, Nadya's agency is required by immigration to guarantee her at least two modeling jobs and a lump sum. But, once she arrives in Japan, it's an entirely different picture. She bunks with another model her age in a dreary, box-sized apartment, leaving each day to audition for gigs she can't book. Instead of working, we learn that Nadya and her roommate's debts to the agency are growing, promoting the already niggling feeling that these girls have been sold into some form of slavery.
Girl Model is an anguishing, anxiety-inducing view of an unethical and, for all intents and purposes, unregulated trade dealing in human flesh. As a product of this system, Arbaugh becomes both the victim and unlikely villain of this story, as whatever sympathy the viewer harbors for her eventually fades away after being exposed to her callous statements and complicit behaviors. Though she provides much insight into the psychic damage that can be wrought on young girls in the industry, she strikes a pose not unlike Cruella De Vil during much of the film. To a certain extent, the conflicts exhibited within Arbaugh paint an ugly picture of what Nadya and others like her might expect to become at the end of their journeys.
Directors Redmon and Sabin have crafted a disturbing look at a reality worth confronting, even if it enrages one's sensibilities as it engages with its subject. It would be a stretch to laud Girl Model as a pleasure to behold, but it does pull the viewer into spaces rarely explored, evoking questions and concerns, which is all you really can ask of a socially minded doc.
Recommended viewing.
Girl Model opens at the IFC Center in NYC on Friday, September 5th. It will play locally at the Clinton Street Theater beginning November 30th. More info available here. Remember to find and "like" us on our Facebook page.
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Would you believe it if I told you that one of most emotionally captivating films I've seen in recent times is about jump rope? Yeah, I'd be skeptical, too. But here it is, more than a week since I watched Doubletime and I'm still impressed at how deeply the story cuts, the astounding look of the thing, and, most of all, just how personally involving of a documentary director Stephanie Johnes has put together here.
The film quickly sorts out the two main types of competitive jump rope; for those not in the know, there's skip rope and double dutch. Skip rope is what most people talk about when they refer to jump rope, pretty basic on the surface, but, as the champion-level kids featured in the doc prove, there's a level of mastery within the competitive skip rope world that's far beyond what you'd see being practiced on your local playground. Double dutch uses two jump ropes at the same time and is just as challenging for the jumper as it is for the two individuals working the ropes. Additionally, in competitive double dutch, there's a style known as fusion, which incorporates dancing and hip hop culture into standard double dutch technique.
Perhaps the most important distinction between skip rope and double dutch, however, is their division along racial lines. Double dutch is almost entirely identified with and practiced by the African-American community, while the kids in Doubletime who work at skip rope are primarily Caucasian. Johnes spends a good amount of time exploring how the split between the two forms of jump rope started, chronicling the history of both sides of the divide. The big event in Doubletime--and, yes, there's always a big event in these kinds of films--is the annual Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theater, where for the first time a group of competitive skip rope players will compete alongside the kings and queens of double dutch.
Johnes captures an inside view of two teams of kids as they prepare to compete in Harlem. South Carolina's Double Dutch Forces are, as their name indicates, well versed in the ways of double dutch, but this inner-city team still has a lot to work ahead of them on their way to the Apollo. North Carolina's Bouncing Bulldogs are the newbies from the suburbs at the competition and they're facing an uphill battle as they try to incorporate the more foreign aspects of double dutch fusion into their repertoire. Each team has its own set of characters, including their trainers whose own hopes and dreams are caught up in the excitement of the upcoming competition.
Doubletime is a great pleasure to watch. From its remarkable perspective on both present and historical issues of race in America to the incredibly optimistic and talented kids performing their incredible, near-acrobatic routines, I was sold from the first minute until the last. Seriously, I was grinning like a damn fool during most of this film and shouting, "whoa," or, "wow," during the rest of it. If you loved Spellbound, Murderball, or Hoop Dreams, you'll absolutely find something to love in Doubletime.
Doubletime is available on dvd & video on demand now. More info about how to see the film can be found here.
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Several months ago, I came across an article on Laughing Squid about a quirky looking, new documentary called Bible Storyland. The film deals with the discovery of conceptual artwork and plans for a large, 1960s Bible-themed amusement park by one Harvey Jordan, an art-collector/dealer from Southern California. Although (or maybe because) the park was never built, Harvey's interaction with these long-forgotten artifacts send him off on a journey to learn the behind the scenes secrets of Bible Storyland. Driven by his own doubts and fears, Harvey chases after the abandoned dreams of the park's would-be-entrepreneurs to the detriment of his family and, perhaps, his own best interests.
I'll be running a review of the film in the very near future, so keep an eye out for that posting. In the meantime, Bible Storyland director Stephanie Hubbard took some time to speak to me about the film. Here's how our conversation went down:
NICK: Can you tell us a little bit about how you became involved in telling the story of Bible Storyland? Did Harvey Jordan approach you with his discovery of the design sketches, paintings, and a forgotten tale of 1960s Americana or did you stumble upon the subject matter some other way?
STEPHANIE: Harvey came to my workshop then as I worked with him on ideas of how to make the film - he suggested that I be the director. I said no at first, but he persisted, and ultimately I took on the role, and I'm glad I did.
NICK: What elements tend to be present for you to begin thinking about telling a story via a film or documentary treatment?
STEPHANIE: I'm always looking for transformation...and funding.
NICK: Your film is ostensibly about Harvey’s quest to research a biblically inspired theme park that was never built. But a fascinating thing happens as the story moves forward: the focus shifts from Harvey’s detective work to become a portrait of Harvey himself, his fears and relentless drive to solve the mystery at the heart of Bible Storyland are all laid bare.
Was there a moment during the production when you began to understand that the story was moving in a whole different direction? And, if so, was there some initial discomfort at coming to the realization that the project would be much more of a character piece than an investigation of Bible Storyland itself?
STEPHANIE: Well thank you - I'm glad you found it to be fascinating.
When I was first exposed to the material and to Harvey - I knew that Bible Storyland was a jumping off point for something more - and that more had to be there to make it a film worth making. So before production began I knew it had to be bigger than Bible Storyland. I also knew from talking to Harvey that there were issues afoot in his household - that his wife was not being supportive - in fact, before we started shooting, he came very close to quitting. So - in answer to your question: I had no discomfort at the realization that it would be more of a character piece - I knew that's what it needed to be. Fortunately Harvey and Debi trusted me and themselves to tell the story.
NICK: Obsession appears to be the main theme forwarded by the film. As we follow Harvey, he encounters what begins to feel like an endless series of dead ends to finding out the truth about Bible Storyland, none of which discourage him enough to abandon his investigation.
Far more curious is Harvey’s admission that he’s developing a sense of kinship with Nat Winecoff, the forgotten early Disney exec turned chief instigator of the Bible Storyland project, even going so far as to begin talking as if he plans to break ground on the long-abandoned Bible Storyland construction himself.
How many years did Harvey end up devoting to this project? Do you think it’s fair to say that at a certain point along the line that the quest began to take over Harvey’s life?
STEPHANIE: By the time we finished the film - Harvey had spent 10 years - now it's been eleven years.
Yes it's fair to say on the one hand that the quest took over Harvey's life. On the other hand, Harvey has a variety of interests (including his meditation - he goes on one or two ten day silent meditation retreats a year in the time I've known him) (and Debi doesn't like him to go on those either) that he finds engaging and interesting.
NICK: Do you see his particular form of obsession as pointing to a larger, societal trend or issue?
STEPHANIE: I think that it's fair to say many many people don't like everything about their daily lives, and are looking for ways to escape. A lot of folks just watch TV - and get really into a show (I have friends who both work on The Bachelorette and others who seem to live for it) or into movies - other people get into complicated hobbies - like Live Action Role Playing - or motocross - or what ever that might be.
One thing that struck me about Harvey's quest is that it was essentially very lonely. He was the only guy going after the Bible Storyland Story - and I think he really liked the uniqueness of his quest. Other people get a hold of something and it makes them part of a group and that's the appeal. That was not the case with Harvey.
NICK: Okay, so do you feel that Harvey’s compulsion becomes easier to identify with because, to a certain degree, so many of us are driven by passions that aren’t always rooted in reality?
STEPHANIE: Well, as a filmmaker - I really related to Harvey's quest.
Most of the people I know here in Los Angeles are driven by similar passions, though I'm happy to say that in my community I think my friends are increasingly rooted in reality. But to be an artist working to make art - especially an expensive and essentially speculative art form like filmmaking - the passion almost has to be detached from reality.
It's interesting - because as I was making this film about Harvey becoming unhinged in an artful quest for Bible Storyland, the protagonist of my second book (a novel) was feeling that all this time spent and dedicated to pursuit of her art form had actually been a betrayal to herself - now she was past 45 years old, still an artist, and still struggling in a rotting rent controlled apartment, seething with jealousy at anyone who had health insurance much less a pension. It was almost as if the Harvey project was success enough to free me to explore this angry aspect of the life I'd created for myself as a working artist.
I think that it's very important in my work to explore the domestic, the struggle to express oneself amid the daily constraints of paying the rent or picking up the kid. That's what I think is interesting, and what I think Bible Storyland managed to explore just a little bit.
NICK: Harvey really commits to putting himself out there as a subject, allowing the audience to see some fairly unflattering and tense moments in his domestic life, as well as more than a few confessional and crisis-driven moments along the way. I’ve got to say that it’s really inspiring to see his growth as a character from the time we meet Harvey until the point where the film reaches it’s conclusion.
Was featuring so much of Harvey’s personal life a process of negotiation between you, Harvey, and his family? Did the necessity of telling the story the way you did become more evident once you entered the editing room or were those decisions arrived at before you began cutting the film?
STEPHANIE: As I said in the beginning - I knew I wanted and needed to include Harvey's story even before we started shooting. What I didn't know was how much they'd show me. The good news was that from the very first or second shoot - they were on board. I never asked them for permission or negotiated anything. I and my cameraman would just show up with cameras and Harvey and his family lived their lives.
Once we hit the editing room then began the waltz to really hit the right mix. I felt it was really important to find that line where Debi's frustration was understandable, and where Harvey's transformation was complete. I've also done this long enough to know to edit almost to the end before we were done shooting - that way after I had screened it and gotten notes and knew where I needed to bring elements forward, I was able to have one last day of shooting to gather it all.
Too often I've seen filmmakers think that there were two discrete phases: shooting - then when that's done - cutting. It's much better for there to be a time of capturing but for that to overlap with cutting, input, more cutting - and then more shooting. Sometimes it's simply not possible, but more often then not it's entirely possible.
NICK: Congrats on bringing the film to completion. I think it’s a really solid piece.
You’ve taken Bible Storyland to a few festivals now. What’s the reception to the film been like so far? You’re currently selling the dvd on your website. Are you still looking to tour the film in various cities?
STEPHANIE: Thanks very much. I was very lucky to have a great producer who really gave me free rein with my artistic vision and really made himself available. It was a really wonderful experience which he and I have both really appreciated.
We've actually only premiered the film in July in San Antonio, and people were really engaged and really enjoyed it. The film just ran a couple of days ago at the Kingston Film Festival, but we weren't there. This upcoming week, it will be shown as part of DocUtah.
Yes we sell the DVD on the site - but it's really fun to watch in a crowded theater - lots of laughing and self recognition. And yes we are currently looking to tour the film in various cities. We'd love to bring it to Portland.
NICK: It’s kind of an uncertain time as far as distribution for independently produced films is concerned. What’s your experience of self-distributing a film in today’s crowded market been like so far?
STEPHANIE: We are not actually self distributing it YET. We are represented by Cargo Films Releasing and David Piperni. We have been making the rounds of festivals. We are currently actually (and frankly very surprising to me) in the process of pursuing a small theatrical release.
I really hope we are able to run in Portland and attend.
As far as standing out in today's crowded market: here is what I will say: I feel that Bible Storyland is the way I like documentaries to be: fun, and edgy and warm and unexpected. When I think of what has influenced my storytelling in this film, I keep coming back to "The Big Lebowski", fun and edgy and warm and unexpected - full of twists and turns - and ultimately: "The Dude Abides".
One by one - we find our viewers: people looking for documentaries that are fun, and edgy and warm and unexpected and who don't get scared by the title.
NICK: Looking to the future, do you have any projects in the works or any that you’re excited to begin developing?
STEPHANIE: Actually I have a few projects. I just completed a Kickstarter Campaign for my next film, for the time being, it's called, The Improv Movie - and it tracks a top level comedy improv team and the concept of "Group Mind" in a fun way of course.
I've also been working with my good friend Joanna Vassilatos on an album - I've written the words, she's the vocalist and doing the music and we are working together with Sasha Smith to producer it.
I have finished my second book (you can find out about my first at www.bluffislandrescueservice.com) and I'm partnering with an amazing producer on a documentary series that i can't talk about yet, but which is really cool.
In the meantime I'm story producing for folks making a documentary about BronyCon - and teaching my workshops - and writing my blog at www.thedocumentaryinsider.com. Also for the record, I have health insurance, and do not live in a rotting apartment (anymore).
Bible Storyland is available for sale on the film's website. More info available here.
Let's just get straight to the point: Bart Layton'sThe Imposter is among a handful of must-see documentary features this year. Relating the details of the 1994 disappearance of a child in San Antonio, Texas and, as the title indicates, the emergence some three years later of an individual claiming to be that missing person, the film winds in and around competing versions of the truth, employing dramatic re-creations, a clever editing scheme that delays reveals and heightens suspense, and intimate interviews with some of the most unreliable subjects this side of the Watergate hearings. In The Imposter, the truth is never certain.
This is a maddening, fascinating watch, demanding an immediate
post-screening breakdown with fellow viewers. And, like the best
mysteries, (much) more than a little ambiguity remains after the
final shot hits the screen. A mind-boggling treat of a film. Do not miss it.
Highly recommended.
The Imposter begins its run at Cinema 21 on Friday, August 24th. More info available here.
Bart (David Anders) hasn't been the same since he returned from Iraq. You see, he didn't quite make it back alive but, then, he's not exactly dead, either. The Revenant is a low-budget, horror comedy that embraces the campier side of Bart's unique problem. Rather than adopting a gothic-inspired tone for this vampire-zombie hybrid, director D. Kelly Prior and crew play the situation for laughs, sending Bart and his best friend Joey (Chris Wylde) on nocturnal missions that revel in the more ridiculous end of blood-sucking pool.
The Revenant is at its best when it remains focused on Bart and Joey's adventures, which are generally cast as two guys up to no good during an endless series of nights on the town. Whenever it moves away from this dynamic, the subplots that emerge (be they the one about the bereaved girlfriend or the expertise on the occult offered up by her Wiccan friend) end up feeling like needless filler.
To be perfectly honest, there's no reason why this film (or the majority of low-budget indie fare) needs to be two hours long. There's enough good stuff going on here that one can imagine a much stronger version of The Revenant would exist if as much as a half an hour were excised from the overstuffed plot. Still, fans of campy horror along the lines of Fido or Near Dark will find plenty to love here.
The Revenant begins its run at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, August 24th.More info available here.
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Local documentary filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher return to the NW Film Center tonight for the Portland premiere of their latest collaborative work, Off Label. Inspired by the work of Carl Elliott (author of "Better Than Well" and "A Philosophical Disease"), the film is an exploration of the unethical practices of big pharmaceutical companies, ranging from the use of "human guinea pigs" to the encouraging of physicians to prescribe medications for off label uses.
Palmieri and Mosher do an interesting thing with the film. They allow their subjects to tell the story without any intrusion from narration, text, or primary sources drawn from corresponding literature. It creates an overall shape for the piece that is a bit more subjective than most documentaries on like topics. But it also focuses the attention on the human aspect of the subject, showing a preference for exposing the impact rather than obsessively combing over statistical information; such work has been performed elsewhere, though some additional context is provided by former pharmaceutical rep Michael Oldani.
Like their previous feature-length documentary, October Country, this is a beautifully shot piece. One could easily watch it for the endless stream of vividly rendered imagery alone. But paired with the intimacy of the interviews, it forms a strikingly provocative piece about a problem that many would prefer to ignore. Off Label doesn't allow you to tune out the pain of its subjects. You'll leave the film still grappling with what you've witnessed.
Tonight's screening is a one-night-only event. Hopefully, there will be other chances to see the film in town in the near future, if so, I'll post about it here or on the blog's Facebook page.
Off Label screens
at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art
Museum) on Wednesday, August 1st at 7pm. More info availablehere.
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A lot of people have played Tetris. Millions, in fact. And many of them, myself included, have returned to the game periodically to find it just as addicting as it was when they first encountered it. The common experience, though, is that the game always gets the best of you, usually not too long after the difficulty ramps up a few notches. But what of those individuals who never put the game down at all? What about players whose mastery allows them to sail past levels that crush the average enthusiast?
Cornelius will be hosting a screening that doubles as the film's dvd release party this coming Friday night at the Hollywood Theatre. Leading up to that event, he was kind enough to answer a few questions about the film and its subjects.
NICK: What drew you to make a film about prodigious players of Tetris? And to further unpack that question: why now, almost 30 years after the game’s creation? What is it about the game and its players that brought you to explore the topic? And what’s your own explanation for the enduring appeal of Tetris so many years after its introduction?
ADAM: The simple answer is I had been trying to master Tetris myself. So I was watching YouTube videos of record games by the people who are now in the movie to try and learn from them. But I really didn’t see a documentary film there because the whole scene was just people recording their games and mailing them to Twin Galaxies to be posted on the Internet. There was no human interaction or filmable action, frankly. In spite of that, when Harry Hong finally maxed out the game, as a Tetris player myself, I was just blown away and really wanted to go down to LA and shoot an interview with him and make a little video of some kind. Once I put that video on the internet (called Max-Out!) the whole movie just came to me from that point on. I met Robin Mihara who had been interested in putting together a tournament and it was just a critical mass kinda thing that grew exponentially into what you see in the movie.
It is great that the game is old, because we have this group of people who’ve been playing the same simple video game for 20+ years, and since video games are relatively new, that’s unprecedented. So it warrants some reflection. In this case, especially for the guys who were in the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, a lot of hopes and dreams are wrapped up in this game. So there really is a history there that gives the movie some depth. When I started I hadn’t even heard of the 1990 NWC. So there’s another example of how things just unfolded before me and I had to put it all together and tell the story.
My explanation for the greatness of Tetris is it is elemental and almost feels like an ancient game. For people who play all the time, it takes on almost a talismanic property where people talk about the Tetris God and the game denying you the pieces you need at critical moments. So you keep going back, hoping to get some cooperation from the Gods and break your high score. The truth is the top players in the movie have genuinely mastered the game and have managed to mostly remove the luck element… in a way they have given the Tetris God the finger, which is what we all wish we could do.
NICK: Your previous film, People Who Do Noise, was about musicians participating in the Portland, Oregon noise scene. Does Ecstasy of Order fit into a larger fascination within your work for documenting individuals operating outside the trends of dominant pop culture? Or is there another explanation as to why you’ve focused in on these stories?
ADAM: Well, first off, in both cases it was something I was directly involved with. In 2005, I played guitar in a drone-metal/guitar feedback band, and we ended up playing a bunch of noise shows, something I hadn’t had much exposure to. I discovered I really liked noise music, and viewed it as a really legitimate art form. And I was just blown away that most people didn’t even know it existed! Like everyone’s heard of abstract visual art, but you bring up abstract sound and just get blank stares. Even people who listen to extreme music like death metal or punk can be outright hostile and amazingly close-minded towards noise. So its just my way of trying to, I don’t know, generate some relevance or spotlight it in some way. And yeah, within that extreme marginalization comes a deep camaraderie that I found really touching.
Tetris was the same way, in the sense that Harry’s max-out was front page news in my mind, like climbing Mount Everest, but in reality almost no one cared. So something compelled me to go to him and try to glorify his achievement. I mean, I actually hope the film becomes famous so that people will take competitive Tetris seriously and perhaps a more established league can form. That’s actually been one of my goals from the start, along with, of course, making a good movie.
NICK: There still lingers in the public mind at large an assumption that video games are a medium not to be taken seriously. From the get-go, Ecstasy of Order argues that Tetris is a serious game based in strategy and timing, there’s even an attempt in your film to align the game’s complexity with that of chess. Did you feel that Tetris needed defending? And, if so, was it a matter of principle, a means of building a basic argument within your film or somewhere in between?
ADAM: Well Tetris is actually marketed and sold here in the States as the “Godfather of Casual Gaming” which is true. But I was still surprised that when I would bring up my film to people, they would often laugh and think I was joking. In my mind there’s no debating Tetris’s legitimacy as one of the great strategy games of all time. But people often don’t realize there is an elite level of play, and they don’t know what it entails. So I wasn’t defending it, more so just explaining it so that the audience could understand the challenge the game represented and hopefully enjoy the action of the tournament more during the film’s climactic scene. I’ve gotten enough positive feedback on that to think it basically worked.
One of the most common reactions to the film is that people really want to play Tetris, because now they understand how the game should be played! They want to see if they can build a wall, leave a well, and burn lines while waiting for a long bar, instead of just blandly clearing lines at slow speeds. Even my parents got a Nintendo after seeing the film and they are way better than they were when I was a kid.
NICK: For me, the most surprising and affecting moment of the film occurs when we finally get to meet Thor Aackerlund, the formerly teenaged Tetris champion of the early 90s. He’s been the elephant in the room for much of the picture, with the other players constantly spouting their theories about his skills, his undocumented claims of surviving the Tetris “kill screen,” and whether or not he’ll even show up for the competition. When the now adult Thor does make the scene, he comes off as quite modest and very candidly opens up about a past filled with personal tragedy, shifting any understanding we might have had about him as a “character” prior to that moment. Did this turn of events surprise you? Were there any other notable discoveries made during the course of production? And were there any moments that you ended up leaving on the cutting room floor that you now wish you had included in the film?
ADAM: Well, I try to let Thor’s appearance in the film speak for itself. I will say that the way it unfolds in the movie is directly what I experienced behind the camera. All I had to go on were these rumors and this growing suspicion that Thor was some kind of fraud or a recluse. We really weren’t sure if he was going to show up or not. So its all true. I feel very lucky that the film has a real story that unfolded organically during the shoot. I think that’s often what sets apart the really memorable documentaries, is when they actually capture a real story arc in the present tense rather than being forced to manufacture one or remain stuck in the past. But you really just have to feel lucky if it happens.
My biggest regret is that we did not do more to hunt down the other Nintendo World Champions who lost to Thor in 1990. Frankly from what I’ve heard through the grapevine, Thor is not the only finalist who went on to have a troubled life. But maybe he encapsulates that whole experience and its not needed.
NICK: The screening at the Hollywood on July 20th also functions as Ecstasy of Order’s dvd and soundtrack release party. Congrats on bringing the film to the home video market. Are you already planning your next project? And, if so, would you feel comfortable sharing a little about it?
ADAM: Thanks. It means a lot to me to have Portlanders come out and see the film and ask Robin and I some questions. I try to remind people that Robin Mihara was born in Portland and the film is about him as much as anyone, so it really is a Portland story.
I have many ideas. There is an event in Texas called the One-Armed Dove Hunt that I’m hoping to shoot. It will be new for me because I will be a complete outsider. I have never hunted, and I am not an amputee, so it will require a higher degree of empathy on my part. I would also like to do something about primitivism and living off the grid. But I am so busy with the Tetris stuff that its hard to move on. We are hosting the 2012 Classic Tetris World Championship at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo on September 29th and 30th, so keep an eye out for that if you want to see Ecstasy of Order stars duke it out in person!
Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, July 20th at 7:30pm. More info available here.
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