Friday, December 6, 2013

Laura Would Like You To Know...

On closer observation I found similarities between a movie I like very much and a profound documentary I saw recently.


On the left we have Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture (2010); the pilot to her HBO series Girls as I like to think of it. Dunham plays Aura, a 22 year old college graduate who moves back in with her photographer mother, Siri and over-achieving teen sister, Nadine in NYC. The film features her real life mother, photographer, Laurie Simmons; real life sister, Grace Dunham; and the TriBeCa loft Lena actually grew up in. The title is a nod to the subject matter of Simmons' (and her character Siri's) photography, as well as the overwhelming feeling of being a recent graduate who studied art and does not know where they fit in the world. Boy can I relate to that one [cough cough].. photography BFA.. [cough cough]. Aura is a video performance artist who does not know how to reconcile the life she lived in college with the life she lead(s) with her family. The film could be close to an autobiography for Dunham. She studied creative writing at Oberlin College and graduated in 2008. Certainly Siri is for all intents and purposes Laurie Simmons. I can't speak to whether their personalities match, but they make the same art, and they both have creative daughters.


On the right we have The Woodmans (2010); a documentary directed by that celebrates the life of the late Francesca Woodman and her surviving parents and brother. Francesca was a young promising photographer, who suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1981 at 22 years old. The daughter of the ceramicist Betty Woodman, and painter George Woodman, making art came naturally to Francesca. Her black and white photographs and videos more often than not exposed her nude body, but the backdrop of dilapidated rooms and painful looking props made her nudity about vulnerability, death, and feminism. The documentary features Francesca's journal entries, photography, videos, testimonies from classmates, friends, and family, which reveal her complicated life.



While I completely understand the apparent triviality of comparing Dunham's portrayals of post-college doldrums to a deeply complicated young woman who ended her own life, I could not help but see very real parallels to Dunham's character and Francesca. Let's compare Aura to Francesca. Let's compare a fictional (maybe?) character to a person who lived and breathed.

Left: Video still of Aura's performance art, Right: Francesca Woodman, Untitled: Boulder, Colorado, 1976
Both made performance videos. Both expose their bodies. Lena Dunham famously continues to do this in Girls.

Both had a rough time directly after graduating. Aura's line, "I'm in a post graduate delirium." is a typical Dunhamism about having no direction once you're plucked from the shelter of school life. She announces it as if this is a state of being that she is completely aware of and demands others to understand. Aura is unsure about her ability to be popular on YouTube. Francesca committed suicide a little over 2 years after graduating from RISD, those close to her citing that she was crushed by perceived failures in her art world status. Obviously both felt stuck.

Both lived with their parents in NYC. Francesca moved into her parent's apartment after a suicide attempt shortly before her death.

Both have Jewish mothers and Christian fathers.

Both have artistically successful mothers. As mentioned before, Siri is a famous photographer in Tiny Furniture, and seems to be modeled after Laurie Simmons herself. At the end of Tiny Furniture, Aura asks Siri, "will I ever be as successful as you?" heavily hinting that Aura idolizes her mother and is concerned about her own future and her future alongside her mother as a fellow artist. Similarly Betty Woodman is and was a successful ceramicist. During The Woodmans it is implied that Francesca was preoccupied with notoriety and success, and had standards that were calibrated by her parent's own successes.

Left: Laurie Simmons photographing tiny furniture, Right: Betty Woodman, ceramicist

Both young women experienced the distance artists create around themselves. They know the barriers their mothers put up. Aura makes multiple attempts to sleep in Siri's bed, but without Siri present - sometimes even with her present- this is a strictly prohibited act. Aura says, "I'm really mature. But every time I come into your room, I wanna sleep in your bed." This establishes her neediness. And stating that you are mature is not very convincing.

Francesca lived in an environment where she was expected to be fiercely independent at an early age, and was often left alone in foreign museums on family vacations. Though Francesca was independent of her parents, she was known to have intense needy relationships with men and her female friends.

Both know the barriers they put up themselves. There is a scene in Tiny Furniture when Aura's old pre-college life becomes her new life again, and her college life is down-graded to old life status. Aura's performance video is in an exhibition thanks to her childhood friend Charlotte (Jemima Kirke). They have been carrying on since Arua moved home, which has made returning the phone calls of her best friend from college, Frankie, impossible. In a last ditch attempt to get through to Aura, Frankie arrives at the art opening only to find that her presence is no match for Charlotte and a sous chef who can't be bothered.

Other weird parallel: Jemima Kirke (pictured right) is a painter and went to RISD just like Francesca
While watching Aura snub Frankie over wild and artistic Charlotte, I couldn't help but hear Francesca Woodman's childhood friend Patricia. Patricia stated in the documentary that in their teen years Francesca was less interested in continuing their friendship. She described it well by saying she was not "useful" to Francesca at the time.

At several moments in Tiny Furniture Aura reads from Siri's diary, circa her 20's, and it is reminiscent of passages from Francesca's diary which are read during the documentary. They both mention insecurities about womanhood and needing to make art; feeling impotent and unsure. Those moments make Tiny Furniture seem like a movie about Francesca's life if she lived into her 50s and had children. Obviously Francesca and Laurie Simmons, aka Siri, have astronomically different photographic techniques (black & white organic and messy imagery of nudes in eerie or unsafe looking environments vs. vivid color photos of doll house furniture, paper dolls; everything dolls and domesticity), but both tackle feminism and female roles in their work.

In this general way a comparison can be made between these women; their age, sex, artistic medium. However, it shows that a story like Francesca Woodman's is a painfully relatable story for female artists across generations. The stories Lena Dunham writes are painfully relatable as well. We see from Tiny Furniture that Aura and her mother are not too dissimilar, and maybe Siri is a beacon of hope, that all people have awkward stages but they can find their place. When Aura asks, "will I ever be as successful as you?" Siri flippantly responds "Oh that won't be hard."

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Halloween 2013: Now Everyone Can Learn Something!

I did it again. My Halloween costume was bizarre, hard to explain, and related to something I discovered while writing this blog. Back in July I wrote about an excellent documentary called Resurrect Dead which investigates the existence of messages embedded in the pavement known as Toynbee Tiles.

Me as a Toynbee Tile

Your standard Toynbee Tile

The short version of the story is that someone or some people have been placing these linoleum tiles in roads across the country since the 1980s. The message is always "Toynbee Idea/In Kubrick's 2001/Resurrect Dead/On Planet Jupiter" which roughly means that historian Arnold Toynbee's theory - that you can resurrect everything that ever lived by gathering up all the particles - can be achieved on Jupiter, and Stanley Kubrick's film 2001:A Space Odyssey proves this. It's a really strange concept, and even stranger why the messages must be placed in roads.

Promo photo for the documentary Resurrect Dead

In September I saw a Toynbee Tile IRL in St. Louis. That's about as far west as you can find them. I nearly stopped traffic as I walked past it in the cross walk. It was an honor.

The Toynbee Tile I found in St. Louis on 8th and Main St. 9/13
Come October, I had a great idea for a cheap (yet confounding) Halloween costume. All it took was a black shirt and multicolored masking tape. And if it comes out wonky: no worries! Toynbee Tiles are typically mishapped anyway. Stick on some desperate paranoid statements if you have room. I managed to add an ominous "You Must" on my shoulder. Also, put some renegade smooshed tile (masking tape) on your face to complete the look. Note: make sure your face is completely clean, because it is hard to make masking tape stick to skin, let alone slightly oily skin. There was more tape on my eyebrows, but this photo was taken at the end of a fun night.


Keep it strange. Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

I Knew You Didn't Feel Like Sleeping: Happy Halloween!


There is something macabre about most of my posts, whether it's a documentary about odd people, strange phenomena, campy and nostalgic TV shows, the horrors of mother nature, history, or a catastrophe. In the spirit of Halloween I compiled the spookiest of my posts. I've dished out a bit of true crime, a bit of horror film dissection, and a touch of the supernatural. Queue up your Netflix. This list will keep you occupied (and looking over your shoulder) through All Hallows Eve. 

Room 237

This documentary attempts to lay bare the hidden messages Stanley Kubrick left in his classic horror film The Shining. I recommend watching Room 237 and then take a crack at The Shining after. See if you can spot them all, or start your own Kubrick conspiracy theory!




VBS Meets... Issei Sagawa

An interview with a real cannibal who committed a heinous crime and is free and living in Japan... Be prepared for gruesome crime photos.

Hunting for a Quality Ghost Show

This is the most viewed post on Consume+Consume. This is probably true because a lot of people are hunting for a quality ghost show by typing this very headline into Google. If you do reach this article in that manner, will your prayers be answered? Click to find out.

Nightmares in Red White and Blue

History as told by horror films. See how since the inception of motion pictures art has been imitating life on a deep psychological level.

Cropsey and H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer

Two stunning tales of serial killers from different eras, I paired these two documentaries in a post deemed a "double feature." Cropsey not only discusses the nightmarish string of murders of defenseless mentally challenged children, but also the horrors of the mental health system in the 1970s. H.H. Holmes:America's First Serial Killer tells the tale of a well respected doctor who committed murder to a scale never before  seen in the late 1800s. Whether you can stomach both at once is entirely up to you.

Sweet dreams!



Friday, October 11, 2013

Genre Defying Dramedies


Comedians agree: comedy is tragedy plus time. Some of the best comedy mocks the seriousness of a tragedy. What better avenue to take than making a parody of a drama? I have written articles concerning this before; how parody is so important in understanding ourselves. It's necessary to take a step back and realize what archetypes we've gotten used to and how silly they can be. This fall Adult Swim and IFC are turning out three comedies which are all brilliant parodies of television dramas. Get ready for amazing writing and surprising costars.

The Heart, She Holler

Conan O'Brian calls it, "An ambitiously left-brained show." It is my favorite thing to watch on Adult Swim right now. From PFFFR, the creators of the sick puppet show, Wondershowzen; witness protection reality show, Delocated; and the computer animated acid trip of a bungling bird man, Xavier: Renegade Angel, comes the hillbilly Gothic soap opera comedy, The Heart, She Holler.

The title is based on the titular family's last name, Heartshe, and the Appalachian pronunciation of "hollow." The entire show, in PFFFR fashion, is based on pop-cultural and political satire, as well as surreal and gross plot devices. The Heart, She Holler goes beyond satirising the twisting improbability of TV dramas, and brings it to absurdity. The citizens of the Holler are über hillbillies who have little sense of conscience, hygiene, or modern science. The science they encounter is of little consequence though, because this is a supernatural drama with curses, telekinesis, other dimensions, and a great amount of organ swapping. 

The Heart , She Holler

Featuring Patton Oswalt, as Hurlan Heartshe, cave-boy and heir to the Heartshe estate; PFFFR veteran, Heather Lawless, as Carrie-esq Hambrosia Heartshe; David Cross, who honestly needs a bigger role; Leo Fitzpatrick as The Reverend, who made his start in the 1995 film Kids; Joseph Sikora as Sheriff, who played Hans Schroeder on Boardwalk Empire; and Amy Sedaris plays Hurshe Heartshe in season 2 (replacing Kirsten Schaal). This may be Amy's grossest character to date, even over Jerri Blank.

A consummate professional

Playing the beloved Meemaw is Judith Roberts who manages to be the most amazing corpse-like woman I have ever seen. I just found out that she was the Beautiful Girl Across the Hall in Eraserhead. [Mind blown]


Judith Roberts above: Eraserhead 1971, below: The Heart She Holler 2013
The PFFR crew never disappoint in delivering the creepy. Each episode begins with a short clip from the 1981 documentary Vernon, Florida. It is reminiscent of their use of stock footage in Wondershowzen. Out of context these clips are unsettling. Read the Wikipedia entry on it and find out why it is in fact sad and creepy (and why the original title of the film was Nub City).
In summation: best show on TV this fall.


 

The Spoils of Babylon

This is a six part mini series by IFC involving Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig, Toby Maguire, Tim Robbins, Haley Joel Osment, and Val Kilmer. Gosh, don't you LOVE it when comedians and regular actors with a sense of humor come together?! Based on the fictional book by fictional author, Eric Jonrosh (Farrell) The Spoils of Babylon chronicles the Morehouse family and love between brother and sister (Maguire and Wiig) in the setting of a Dallas style drama.


The trailer for this looks like a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. The production value is a testament to how serious this community is about comedy. Plot lines and punch lines aside, the stylistic choices - the detail and high production value - are what make a mockery out of real drama. It says, "we can take you on from all angles." I want to live in a world where Eric Jonrosh is an author, and people paid millions of dollars to make this over-the top mini series. The set up reminds me of Walk Hard, in the way it goes full throttle on making fun of a genre. I am looking forward to the premiere on January 9th at 10pm in IFC.

 

 

Filthy Sexy Teen$

Filthy Sexy Teen$
A parody of Pretty Little Liars and the wealthy teen drama genre, Filthy Sexy Teen$ is a pilot created by Paul Scheer for Adult Swim. It features Sam Trammell and Marshall Allman of True Blood fame, Steven Yeun of The Walking Dead, and SNL alum Chris Parnell and Casey Wilson. I cannot wait to see Allman and Yeun in their roles. I could have never guessed this group of actors would come together for this. Clips are few and far between at this point, but considering Scheer is behind NTSF:SD:SUV and Childrens Hospital this quarter hour comedy should be hilarious.



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

I've Been A Bad, Bad Girl


Fiona Apple's Criminal vs. Miley Cyrus's We Can't Stop

When I saw Miley Cyrus's video for We Can't Stop, I had a case of Deja Vu. There was another epic house party with tons of bodies, pool time, and randomness from 16 years ago. It's a party that has not gone out of style, and I have Fiona Apple's 1997 video for Criminal as evidence.

Criminal is one of those life-changing videos I saw when I was 10 years old. Maybe it chipped away at my innocence a bit, but musically Fiona Apple would become one of my favorite artists. Apple was 20 when this video debuted, as is Cyrus. Watching We Can't Stop, and knowing Miley Cyrus's fan base of tweens, makes me wonder if there's a group of 10 year-old girls watching it and having the same feelings I had over the Criminal video; curiosity over how unsafe everything is, what it's like to be a "grownup." Realizing it's kind of cool to be dangerous. Thinking maybe some day I'll get to be strung out in someones nice house.  

Apple's and Cyrus's respective videos both take place at a wild house party that maybe got a little out of hand. Apple's take is a bit more sinister. She's writhing around, awake when everyone else is asleep, as if wrestling with guilt. The opening line of the song is I've been a bad, bad girl. Other lyrics include Heaven help me for the way I am and I've done wrong and I want to / Suffer for my sins.

The point of Cyrus's song is that the party got out of control and therefore everything went as planned. The song has lyrics such as, We run things, Things don’t run we and It’s our party we can do what we want. It's unapologetic.

Apple's video was directed by Mark Romanek who also directed Closer by Nine Inch Nails, which can explain why it aint no party like a Romanek party cuz a Romanek party has at least a little bit of dread in it.

We Can't Stop  was directed by Diane Martel who has a huge resume including directing credits for - unsurprisingly - Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, which has a similar usage of taxidermy, stationary bikes, butt-touching, large captions, platform shoes, and product placement.

Despite differing messages in the song lyrics, here are some visual similarities that seem to be the archetypes of a wild music video party.

Let's start with holding the camera on these electrical appliances.

Lay on the floor. Watch your head when you get up, though.

Stretch out your clothes.

Sing just above the water.


Have fun in the pool. ...Or don't, Fiona.

Stuffed animals.

Get freaky in the kitchen.


Hang with your friends. (The 97' version had more photo-taking and less twerking.)


Snuggle up to a shirtless guy with no identity.

It's so tired in here!


Do inexplicable things with food.

Put your fingers in your mouth.

Get creepy.

Misuse the furniture.


Have fun in the bath tub.

Bend your legs, show off our thighs.

Pink goo.












Essentially the same things happen in both videos, but the color pallet and song lyrics change the meaning quite a bit. Both say, "Look at these people carelessly sleeping all over each other." With that visual, Criminal implies the decline of western civilization. Everyone is kind of in a stupor they will probably regret. We Can't Stop tries to depict a group of young people who do weird and provocative things with each other, and yeah, they're probably high on something, but there's a charm to it. Everyone seems to be having fun. Everyone in criminal seems kind of indifferent.

Here are the full videos for your enjoyment.



Saturday, August 3, 2013

To Build and Walk Away:The Pruitt-Igoe Myth


Pruitt-Igoe contained an amount of negative space that once witnessed and understood evoked feelings of dread. I didn't know I was looking at the Pruitt-Igoe apartment complex when first watching the segment in Koyaanisqatsi in which a series of unkempt apartment complexes are shown in sweeping areal shots. I had seen large apartment buildings before, nothing seemed awry. When the shots come in closer, and it was apparent that the buildings were lifeless empty shells, the horror becomes clear. Every window was broken, like there was an effort put into Pruitt-Igoe's special appearance: just enough damage to convey everything bad in this world, while still being able to stand. How could this have happened? It was like a carcass lying in the open. 

Before it was demolished in the 1970s, Pruitt-Igoe was supposed to be a turning point in the socioeconomic heath of St. Louis, MO. A modern public housing project conceived during the 1950s that would provide low-income families with apartments that were dream homes compared to the slums they were familiar with. It consisted of 33 11-story apartment buildings, which was one of the largest complexes in the USA at the time. It was advertised as a utopia, or more realistically, a clean civilized place that would promote idealist white civilized behavior, or even more realistically, a place to segregate the poor black population; a band-aid.

The St. Louis government paid for the construction, but failed to pay for the upkeep of a massive ecosystem they didn't understand. The documentary The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, directed by Chad Freidrichs, investigates the factors that lead to the devastation; a problem even larger than the original slums they were trying to eradicate.

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth uses heartbreaking footage of the apartments as well as interviews with former tenants. It is shocking how disparate their memories of Pruitt Igoe are; from the joys of their first Christmas out of the slums, to family members brutally murdered in the playground. The intentions of the St. Louis housing authority begin to get hazy as the film goes on. Some who are interviewed described the complex as a prison. Living in Pruitt-Igoe was supposed to be an opportunity, but it came with a price. There were regulations that prohibited "able-bodied husbands" from living there, effectively breaking up families so wives and their children could qualify to live there. Telephones and televisions were prohibited also. All of this lead to overwhelming feelings of isolation. And while young children were taught to fear the white men in suits who regularly checked homes to be sure their fathers were appropriately absent, there was a total lack of regulation in keeping the buildings safe from criminals, fire, and filth. It was doomed from the start to keep everything good out and drag complete negativity in, until it literally had to be imploded.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Toynbee Tiles and the Drive to Understand an Insane Thought Process

In case you don't know, the so called "Toynbee Tiles" are the epitome of underground gorilla propaganda.

First and most prominently found in Philadelphia - but also found in cities across the north east/west, and in South America - the Toynbee Tiles are messages adhered to the pavement. Starting in the early 1980s, the same message was seen repeatedly throughout Philly, "Toynbee Idea, In Kubrick's 2001, Resurrect Dead, On Planet Jupiter." Sometimes they would be accompanied by side notes that said things like,  'Murder every journalist I beg you.', 'That's when I begged them not to destroy it. Thank you and goodbye.' and 'I am only one man.' Absolutely the ramblings of a sad and paranoid individual. But no one could figure out who this person was, or even how they could manage to put these tiles on busy streets and highways all over the country and abroad without a trace.

The 2011 documentary by Jon Foy, Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, follows a man's obsession with finding the meaning, origin, and maker of the Toynbee Tiles. Justin Duerr , the protagonist, says, "'Toynbee Idea' was the first thing I put into an Internet search." Obsessed with the tiles since 1994, Duerr and a group of like-minded friends set out to find the Toynbee Tiler and understand his message. Where Duerr and his friends take you is unexpected. In the course of the film they cover underground societies, railroad routs, shortwave radio, and the lore of Philly locals. 

Justin Duerr over a Toynbee Tile

What can be surmised from the main four lines spotted over 100 times throughout Philly, can be broken down as such:
Toynbee Idea - Reference to Arnold J. Toynbee, a British historian who believed that the molecules of the dead could be put back together to resurrect all previous human life.
In Kubrick's 2001 - Stanley Kubrick's film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which shows themes of cyclical life and death.
Resurrect The Dead - See Toynbee Idea above.
On Planet Jupiter - A monolith is found on Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey which is the only obvious tie between Jupiter and the rest of the lines. 

The tiler appears to believe that the movie 2001 takes Toynbee's idea further by showing how we can execute this theory on Jupiter. But how did this person come to that conclusion, why is it so important that the message gets across, and why do they have to be incognito? 

After learning about the tiles, the viewer needs answers. That's what makes Resurrect Dead amazing to watch: the palpable excitement of the chase. The documentary succeeds in making Duerr's enthusiasm contagious. Anyone can relate to the concept of seeing something strange that maybe most people overlook. It's the idea that someone out there is trying to send a message, and in their bizarre manner of doing so, it feels like it's just for you (since everyone in the street is just walking over it like it's not there, instead of making a massive crowd around it. No, it is just you standing there taking photos and getting in the way of commuters).

This story is reminiscent of my own case of unexplained phenomena. Over the past two years of living near a particular CVS in Allston, MA, I have noticed odd piles of ground up food next to an electrical box. The box is right outside the CVS and is not particularly close to any restaurants - not close enough to make this spot an obvious dumping ground. Every once in a while (I have not found a pattern yet) the food will be there at night. The offerings are either cooked rice, ground-up white bread, or a mix of the two. The piles are sometimes so big they lean against the electrical box as if it poured out of the vents. The next day it is completely gone, leaving a perpetual dark grease spot.

A massive offering that has been spread about.
A smaller, grosser looking pile.

I have never seen it being put there, or seen what eats it up/takes it away. My guess is that pigeons eat it, based on one time I found red beans scattered about as if rice and beans were put there but the birds could only consume the rice. And all the bird poop. But who is the person offering up this food like a sacrifice to an electrical box god?
Only red beans left...
Much like Duerr's Toynbee Tile investigation, I want to know what this person's intentions are. When the message is that cryptic, being able to solve it means to understand another person's thought process. A connection is made. The non sequitur becomes a sensible part of life.

 Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles is available on Netflix.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Room 237: When the Director Haunts the Audience


After watching Room 237, my perception of ghosts has changed.

Room 237 is a documentary in which theorists and experts of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining share their findings concerning hidden messages in the mise en scene of the film. The Shining is already terrifying on the first watch. It is undeniably tense, and creepy, and gory. In the next watching of The Shining one might notice more creepy details; a notable turn of phrase, color themes, a missing piece of furniture.

The folks from this documentary studied The Shining meticulously. Their continuity errors and coincidences turned into theories about hidden messages from Kubrick. The messages and symbolism he hid in the film are like ghosts in and of themselves.

Repeated Native American imagery hints that they were the ghosts haunting the Overlook Hotel. "We built it on an Indian burial ground." Where have I heard that before?

A movie about a haunting is scary on the first viewing because of the surprise elements, but if there is something new to notice in the next viewing that can rekindle the same fear. It causes one to question what is perceivable. What am I missing? What demon was right behind me and I didn't notice?

This is what you get when The Shining is played backwards and forwards at the same time.

Kubrick's added touches (whether he meant them or not - but he probably did) make the avid viewer witness to a real haunting. It is a haunting of the audience by the director. The director is communicating with the audience as a ghost would to it's haunted; without words. He does it with continuity errors in the furniture, things out of place, subtle hints in the shapes of props, the colors characters wear.

Kubrick 1. was very secretive, 2. detail-oriented to say the least and 3. is dead, making these hints literal messages from beyond the grave.

Someone thought the hotel manager got a ghost boner when he shook Jack's hand. While it is undeniable, I'm not sure why it's important.

I know I'm not alone in saying that documentaries such as Room 237 are thrilling. Once you thought you saw The Shinning too many times to be scared, the people in these interviews inject more "ghosts" into it. The most interesting part is that we all know it's just a movie; the ghosts haunting the Overlook Hotel are fictional. Kubrick's hidden messages are not actually scary ghosts, yet hearing about his sly trickery, his subliminal mind teasers, will give you chills. This is because people like to be in control. That's why ghosts - if they exist - are scary; you never know when they will strike, how they will show themselves, and to what severity it will effect you. A powerful and genius director such as Kubrick has power over his cast, set, and audience, with the way he chooses to withhold and dispense information. We continue to find the specters of his cinematic message to this day.

Still, no one in the documentary explained this...