Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Documentaries on American outlaw iconic personas...

Documentaries are moving pictures that usually encapture some aspect of reality.Documentaries in the 40s were propangandistic films, cinema verite in the next two decades and a very powerful political weapon against the upocoming capitalism in the 70s. Modern documentaries can be narrated or without words, animated, realistic, mockumentaries (fictitious, or pseudo-documentaries) ethnografic, rockumentaries and in several other forms depending on the theme, budget and the directional makers' aesthetics.

The list of documentaries by topic in wikipedia are endless but do not include the ones I'm proposing you to watch...

First one is a photo-animated documentary narrated by 10 people who knew the iconic American stand up comedian satirist and musician Bill Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994).Bill has been listed as the 19th most succesful comedian form Comedy Central and was famous for his own style of dark comedy often criticized as 'inhuman'.He  died prematurely of pancreatic cancer near his closest friends and family with the ending words..

"I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit".
It took 3 years for Matt Harlock & Paul Thomas to make the AMERICAN: The Bill Hicks Story (2009) that describes the twists and turns in the life of this talented  comedian.

Official trailler of the film AMERICAN: The Bill Hicks Story (2009)




 


Next documentary film is about the legendary beat author novelist and essayist William S. Burroughs (1903-1997). Famous for his non-linear writting in themes concerning death, drugs, homosexuality, wrote at least 18 novels among which the two confessional novels the Junkie (1953) and Naked lunch (1959) that made him notorious in Europe.

Burroughs loved experimenting with drugs, hated literacy critics and scientologists and became a counterculture figure that inspired many proto punk and metal groups, artists and outsiders.


William Burroughs : A man within (2010) is a feature-length indpendent documentary of Burroughs life by Yony  Leiser, including interviews of closests friends and collegues, never before seen footage, narrated by actor Peter Weller.


Official trailler of the film William Burroughs : A man within (2010)



The last documentary I'm proposing you to watch is the feature length documentary about the infamous Gonzo journalist -Hunter S. Thompson.Breakfast With Hunter (2003) by Wayene Ewing is about everyday life of Hunter in his home in Aspen, and several stories narrated by him, including  a variety of well-known figures involved with Thompson throughout his life (Johny Depp, Benicio del Toro, Terry Gilliam).

Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author, most famous for the creation of Gonzo Journalism, in which reporters take action. He used this method to write the seminal novel ''Heals Angels : the Strange and terrible saga of the Oultaw Motorcycle Gangs''.Hunter was a reader of the beat generation novels and friend of Burroughs and also experimented with drugs, weapons and writing all of his life. He commited suicide in 2003 because it wasn't fun anymore..
 Official trailler of the film ''Breakfast with Thompson'' (2003)

2 comments:

  1. Great guys livin on the fast lane. Great for them, kinda sad for us.

    ReplyDelete

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