American filmmaker Les Blank stole my heart a long time ago with the short docu he made about Werner Herzog: Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. And that is exactly what happened in that film. Herzog lost a bet to Errol Morris: he never thought that the latter's Gates of Heaven would finish. And so he had to eat his shoe. He had that shoe prepared at the famous Californian restaurant Chez Panisse. Blank was there and watched it.
Other genius titles of his films include Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers and so now A Poem Is A Naked Person.
Besides coming up with great titles, Blank is also just a great documentary filmmaker. In this work, he follows (session) musician Leon Russell in the turbulent 1970s. Not only does he record concerts and recordings, but he also gives the audience ample space and inserts time for people like American country singer Willie Nelson.
Leon Russell was unhappy with the result and because he was co-producer, he was able to prevent the film from being shown. So the material was not shown to the general public for forty years. Only this year, two years after Les Blank's death, the film was finished by his son and may finally be shown to us.
The film happily bounces in all directions. It is not a neat concert recording or a neat music docu. By no means all the people are introduced, for instance. But what remains is a rock-solid time document and a great love for music. Too bad his other music films are not also shown. Les Blank did just about every typical American genre, ranging from blues to the polka that immigrants brought with them. He had a keen eye for the cultural patchwork that is America.
What: A Poem is a Naked Person by Les Blank
Where: 9:45pm at Tuschinski 6. Friday and Saturday also showing. Click here for tickets.
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