Not Coming to a Theater Near You
You know him?”
“Not socially. His name’s Jaws, he kills people.
When did the edict go forth that four out of every five American documentaries should chronicle “one man’s quest” to do or learn something? As with so many mixed blessings for non-fiction film culture, we can probably thank Michael Moore, who perfected the formula with Roger & Me and has consistently milked it in every movie since. (OK, Ross McElwee might deserve a slap on the wrist as well.) At any rate, after American Movie, Super Size Me, No Impact Man, The Cove, and dozens of less distinguished others, I think we’re all getting a little tired of tireless personal crusades.
In Do It Again, the quest in question is a reunion of the original lineup of legendary rock band the Kinks, who are, depending on who you ask, either in the upper echelon of the second tier of British Invasion groups, just below the holy trinity of the Beatles/Who/Stones, or else are even better than that. (Full disclosure: I’m in the latter camp.) Brothers Ray and Dave Davies famously hate each other’s guts, so there are even more than the usual roadblocks to successful conflict resolution in this particular case. (The mission appears all the more impossible with the recent passing of bassist Pete Quaife, an event noted at the screening I attended by the presentation of a certificate of honor to his fiancée by LA City Councilman Paul Koretz.) Anyway, as you might expect, the film is not so much about the Kinks themselves as it is about Boston Globe reporter Geoff Edgers’ quixotic attempt to reunite them, and the almost universal disinterest and discouragement that that quest inspires. He never gets anywhere close to Ray Davies, whose enthusiasm for the project would obviously be key, though he does manage to score interviews with Dave and original drummer Mick Avory, as well as famous Kinks fans from Robyn Hitchcock and Sting to Zooey Deschanel and John Cusack. Edgers himself is a likable schlemiel, though a little on the pushy side, as evidenced by his attempts to get these celebrities not only to perform Kinks songs for but also with him (a request that Paul Weller justifiably refuses as “naff”). But it’s hard not to be touched by Edgers’ passion, or the harrowing subplot about cost-cutting at the Globe that hits him with a 23% paycut during the course of the film’s production. In the end, Do It Again skates by on charm and the reflected glory of the Kinks’ songbook, but we seriously need a moratorium on this subgenre.
by Evan Kindley | Source: DV Projection
23 Jul 2010 4:03 PM | Comments (6)
I’ll sign the petition for that moratorium. (But let’s not drag Ross McElwee into this. His films are personal and essayistic, with a refreshing lack of purpose in their supposed purposes.) It’s remarkable that the supposed increase in popularity (but not profitability or cultural impact?) of documentary films in this country basically means that they have filled a niche once occupied by television, allowing that medium to wallow in the most regressive and fluffy bits of nonsense. And so, while non-fiction forms thrive outside of the U.S. (in Asia and Latin America in particular), most homegrown products have come to resemble pieces for 60 Minutes or 20/20, with that scope and level of depth stretched out to a dreary 80 minutes (plus credits).
By the way, friend and roommate Rhys saw Ray Davies in a café in New York a month ago. So, he’s got one up on old Geoff.
Just to be clear, Leo, I love McElwee, and I don’t think he really bears any responsibility for the mediocrity of a lot of current documentaries (the directors of which have probably not seen any of his work). But I wonder if he was the first director to make himself the main character in a non-fiction film, and to make the difficulties of producing a documentary one of the primary narrative threads? Sherman’s March precedes Roger & Me by three years, after all. I should have mentioned Nick Broomfield in this connection as well.
There actually is camera phone footage of Ray in the film, fronting a band of former Kinks members called “the Kast Off Kinks.” It’s one of the more heartwarming scenes, actually.
I see what you mean, and McElwee may be the first auto-filmmaker to break into wide renown, but certainly there were many before him. It might be a bit hard to track who the very first was – suggestions, gang? – but I would guess that the first to do so in the sense you mean and in the manner of someone like McElwee and Michael Moore would have been in the glory days of identity politics: the 1970s. Jon Jost’s wonderful Speaking Directly is the earliest non-fiction film I can think of that takes the filmmaker as its subject, but I’d bet there are earlier examples. And let’s face it: they’re probably French.
I know Werner Herzog’s penchant for appearing in front of his cameras has caused a few people headaches – Slate Magazine even touched on it a few years ago – but c0nsidering his wonderfully thick accent and legendary acts of pseudo-madness, I find it more charming than annoying, like watching an exotic animal in its natural habitat. (Though for me, his “appearance” in Grizzly Man was pushing it a little.) But he does documentaries about other people’s journeys, not his own, and I think he started after McElwee.
“I’d bet there are earlier examples. And let’s face it: they’re probably French.”
I guess our current cover girl would be another obvious candidate, along with Chris Marker, though he never appears in person. But I’m talking not just about the documentarian him or herself being on camera, but the “trials and tribulations of filmmaking” narrative structure. I would guess it also has something to do with documentaries starting to be produced (and thus take place) over longer and longer periods of time, which seems like it’s maybe an 80s phenomenon, following more bounded fly-on-the-wall stuff by people like Wiseman, Pennebaker, and the Maysles (Maysleses?) in the 60s and 70s.
Leo, Where do you live? If we’ve got a screening there, I’d love to leave you a ticket. And then, if I deserve it, you can boo me in person! And I agree… Ross McElwee should remain in a special place occupied only by true innovators. Best, Geoff
Leo
23 July 2010
1:48 PM
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