Festival Film
BY 1987 WILLIAMS HAD EMBRACED A BRAND OF HAIRY, BIPOLAR ICONOCLASM
interesting lilm to date. (imul lli/l Hum/nu. True to schi/ophrenic l'orm Williams and his clearly oy'erpaid agent immediately tailed to hank on this new kudos with a line a liquid excrement. which included What Dreams May ('mm' la theological romantic l'antasy that managed to kill oil the career ol hudding young Kiwi lilmmaker Vincent Ward). and old lricnd and l'ellow San l‘rancisco resident ('hris ('olumhus' appalling lfi’i'i'iili'miiu/ .llun.
By the early let century \Villiams' cinematic legacy was prolilic hut risihle. His name along with that ol Steye Martin had hcconie a hy w'ord lor the trajectory incredihly gil'ted stand-up comedians take l'rom seminal to mainstream pap. Williams l‘or a w hilc started Choosing his own projects. The
interesting hut l'lawed indie l‘ilm ()m' Hour
Photo a sterile study til at possihle small town pederast l'ollowed. Then there was Heal/1 Io .S'niom‘liy'. a King of ("unruly-style
media satire which. untisually' l‘or a lilm starring Williams. ney'er ey'en saw the inside ol a liuropean cinema. Supporting roles in
They didn’t get the recognition they deserved first time round. Mark Robertson reports on the documentary loudQUlETloud which documents the magic and mundanity of their reunion tour.
('hristopher Nolan‘s edgy l/iwmuiu. The X l'i/i'y‘ l)a\‘id l)ticlio\'il_\\ l‘eaturc dchut Home of I) and crap y'uletide l‘arce .\'m'/ were the upshot ol' what he hoped would he a more l‘ertile period.
By 3005. Williams had lost enough critical ground that he had signed on to make .llrs Doubt/ire 3 (due ottt in 3007). On top ol this. his l'iirgo-esque comedy crime caper The Big ll'liin'. his lamily' road trip comedy Rl' and. most surprisingly The Night listener. hased on Armisted .\laupin‘s noy'el ahout the personal odyssey ill a late-night radio storyteller. had all heen commercial lilops.
None ol‘ which should oy'erly' hother the hirsute showman whose huge personal wealth (estimated at around SSlltlmillionl has enahled him to iny'est a lot ol‘ time in commendahle charity projects (Rohin and his w‘il‘e Marsha l'ounded the \Vindl‘all l’oundation. a philanthropic organisation. which raises money l'or many dil'l'erent charities. in the early l‘)‘)(lsl. hut also to throw a lot ol‘ money at his many hohhies cycling. watching old episodes
ol' Dr Who and Japanese anime. computer
games and. hi/arrely. rughy union.
()nc does how'ey‘er l’eel that to Williams more so than his contemporaries Martin and liddie Murphy. it all really does matter. may'he a little too much. Mayhe he’s just desperate l‘or his grayestone not to read. '.\'anoo Nanoo. llere lies a sha/hat comedian.’
The Night Listener, Cineworld, 623 8030, 25 Aug, 7pm 8: 26 Aug, 10pm, £7.95 (£5.20).
t‘s not uncommon l‘or an artist to he
undery'alued in their lil'etime only to he
recognised as a genius years down the line. .lust ask Van (iogh. .lohann Sehastian Bach and l'ran/ Kal'ka they all got gypped until they were six l‘eet under. In 2004. the l’i\ies. reincarnated and now l‘ully amireciated. were given a second chance.
Between l‘).\’(i and I‘M: the hand released the alhums ol great quality at a time when indie rock was as lar away lrom the mainstream as ligy'ptian hlack metal is today. The musical landscape has changed dramatically since their aci‘irnonious split and. thanks in part to patrons such as Kurt (‘ohain citing them as a huge inl‘luence the said he was just trying to sound like the Pixies when he wrote ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’) they are now recognised as one till the most influential rock hands ol' the last It) years.
The hand reunited in early 2004 with plans for an .-\merican tour. Filmmaker Stey'en (‘antor. like so many music lovers of his age. was suitath e\cited.
‘My lirst reaction was to get on the internet and try getting tickets tor the first show in Minnesota. While my partner and l were waiting on the ticket order to come through we had a look at each other and we were saying like. "Wait a minute. we're lilmmakers. we should make this lilm. Screw the tickets? We should he getting press passes? So we hunted down their management: there was a long hard wooing process and ey'entually they agreed to let us film from the Very tirst rehearsal to the last date of the tour.‘
The result is an unflinching. uncompromising. ol'ten plaintiy‘e look at a hunch of people getting hack together to rey'isit their liy‘es as they were a down years ago. l-‘or most hands. the
c\pcctation would he tor the old tensions to start appearing. hut it is the lack ol tension. the incredihle iiulil'lcreuce that strikes you as the most oy crwhclming l'eature ol' this lilm.
':\ ltlt til the htttl hliuitl had disappeared; they were nicer to each other and hecansc til it I think we made a more intimate and raw kind ol lilm. where emotions are not oyerlly stated. hut \ iewers has to read hetween the lines to e\tt'act meaning lrom the scenes.‘
l’art way through l‘ilming (’antor heard that the hand had decided not to continue alter the shows they had played.
"l'hcy'd just got hack l'rom l'.astel'lt laurope. hut then they said they weren't recording any new music. they were done. So there was
‘THE ELECTRICITY AND CHEMISTRY AND THE SOUND COMING OFF THAT STAGE WAS REMARKABLE'
a time when we started to lecl a hit (it pressure. like this was going to he the delinitiye l’ixies lilm."
()ne ol. the things that sets him/Q! 'llfHum/ apart lrom many ol the music documentaries ol late is that it spends time on capturing the lerocity and energy ol the liye perlorinances.
"l‘he electricity and chemistry and the sound coming oil that stage was remarkahle considering how little they actually talked to each other. That is the ama/ing thing ahout rock hands in general; when it does work. it is the most ama/ing coincidence eyer. I mean. who puts an the ad in the paper tor a bass player who likes lliisker on and Peter. Paul and Mary to end up with this . . f
Cameo, 623 8030, Tue 22 Aug, 10pm 8. Fri 25 Aug, 9pm, £7.95 (£5.20).
' THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 83