Gary Dretzka
Leonard Klady
Emanuel Levy
David Poland
Doug Pratt
Ray Pride

JANUARY 25, 2005

4:30p - Park City may be slowing down, but that didn't keep me from running into a couple of Oscar nominees running around town today... Kirby Dick was all smiles and Brad Bird was fresh off the slopes, happy to have been nominated for writing, but a little pissed that nom #5, for Giacchino's score, didn't materialize... And btw, he loved Hustle & Flow...

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2:49a - Thank God that there have been some really good movies in the last couple of days. But the devil is a lot more fun.

If there is a masterpiece at Sundance this year, it's Jeff Feuerzeig's The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

It's amazing how many people wrote off this doc because of the catalog description. I guess that it is the price of maing a film about a guy that few Sundancers have ever heard of and describing him as a "musical genius." Put up or shut up. I was one of those who didn't know about Daniel Johnston's genius career. But after an hour or so of this film, I was not only aware, I was a believer.

But not only is the story of this dangerously manic depressive artist fascinating, the execution of the storytelling by Mr. Feuerzeig is elegant and complex, incredibly showy without ever seeming to try to be more interesting than the film's subject. Feuerzeig has only made one other film, a dozen years ago, about the band Half-Japanese… one member of which, by no coincidence, had collaborated with Daniel Johnston. But the skill Feuerzeig shows here is just amazing, bringing the barren melancholia, as well as the humor of Johnston's work to us in a way that makes the emotional experience unavoidable.

Feuerzeig's film is the latest quality example of the new genre of Self-Verite Documentaries. This group includes films like Andrew Jarecki's Capturing The Friedmans, John Dullaghan's Bukowski: Born Into This, Billy Corben's Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, and last year's Sundance surprise from Jonathan Couette, Tarnation. None of these films could have been made without a lot of footage taken on Super 8 or video by the subjects of the docs… none of whom actually directed their own stories.

Of course, the quality of the director's vision and skill are every bit as important as the raw footage. About half way through this film, I started thinking about how many horrible films we are about to see being submitted to (and sometimes accepted by) film festivals that are based on the home videos that have become ubiquitous in the era of relatively cheap video cameras.

So why is The Devil and Daniel Johnston so amazing? Well, it is the symbiotic use of Johnston's art work and his music, filling the eyes and ears so intensely that it fills the heart. This is the tale of a man who is deeply loved by the people in his life… and who have to put up with a great deal of trouble created by his illness. The music is fascinating, seemingly incompetent at first, but more and more beautiful as you get a chance to really listen to the lyrics. Feuerzeig uses lots and lots of taped dialogue over which he fearlessly loads visual imagery, never stuck to the traditional style of dealing with taped info. He even risks a harsh "click" at the end of some tapes that serves as a great filmic period to those tapes.

And of course, there is the subject. My first reaction to the film is that Fox Searchlight is the perfect studio to release this film, since for all intents and purposes, this is a real-life version of Napoleon Dynamite and the cult audience, which Searchlight built for Napoleon as effectively as any movie studio ever has, is ripe for the embrace of this movie. Not only is this a great doc, but it is fully capable of becoming one of the great college cult films of all time. Daniel Johnston is, after all, a kid from a small town who never gave up on his dreams and overcame not only his parents' disapproval, but the revolt of his own body and mind. Not only do you come to really respect his work in this film, you find a form of love for this damaged soul.

Not only was I thrilled to get the double CD of his work from the press office after seeing the film, but I can't wait to see him play live here in Park City later this week.

But I still don't feel like I've really expressed what is so very special about this film. And I'm not sure that I can…. maybe after I've seen it a few more times. Every time you think that it isn't going to get you, it grabs you tighter. This is a guy who couldn't handle cleaning tables at McDonald's but still managed to push his way onto MTV. This is a guy who obsesses on Casper The Friendly Ghost and Captain America, but raises their artistry to new levels in a way we are used to seeing from Warhol or Basquiat. This is a guy who is considered a genius, but who has lived with his parents for most of his life.

Entertaining. Challenging. Compelling. Magic.

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Thumbsucker is looking like this year's Tadpole. The only difference is that the kind in this, Lou Pucci, will probably go on to some very good things. Just sayin'.

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Did you know that MSNBC's Hardball broadcast from Park City this weekend? Oy!

Day Four
Day Three
Day Two
Day One
Preview: The Hot Button