Customer Reviews

Thomas Pynchon - A Journey Into the Mind of [p]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Given Pynchon's recurring themes of paranoia, drug use, and involved, labyrinthine plots, coupled with the almost complete lack of information about the man himself, I thought this was an interesting approach to the writer. It's a highly impressionistic pastiche of archival footage, interviews, speculation, eerie versions of sixties music ("In-a-Gadda-da-Vida", "Land of 1000 Dances", "Gloria") and surrealism; which actually doesn't do a bad job of evoking the feel of Pynchon's writings. Perhaps better than a bunch of talking heads from academia.

There's a William Burroughs, cut-and-paste feel to the filmmaker's approach, but I don't think this is a bad thing. Though it will appeal more to "sixties survivors" than to those seeking a more measured, academic discussion. However, the latter model would be hard put to find much to include in a film, given Pynchon's remoteness and secrecy.

Was amused to learn of his friendship with Richard Farina, "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me" being an old favorite of mine.

I agree with Volunteer; this film is more about creating an atmosphere and a mood that evokes Pynchon's writing, rather than a literary, literal analysis. The music - which I really enjoyed - and the sinister, paranoid snips of puzzling events like the Kennedy assassination do a good job of evoking the feel of an alien, threatening power in the world. And yes, there's definitely the influence of Burroughs; the filmmakers' approach somewhat resembles David Cronenberg's film rendering of Burroughs' Naked Lunch, where he mixes the novel with biographical scenes.

I can see that this is not for all Pynchon admirers, but if you're psychedelically inclined, you'll find it quite engrossing.

If you've read everything that Pynchon's written, you gotta see this. If you remember the sixties, or wonder about the paranoia and the drugs, you gotta see it. From the atom bomb to LSD and an interview with one of Pynchon's old lovers, this documentary is a whole lot better than the sum of it's parts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FZQOPY?ie=UTF8&tag=tdcoccamsaxe-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B001FZQOPY

Thomas Pynchon: A Journey into the Mind of P, directed and produced by the brothers Fosco and Donatello Dubini, is not so much a documentary as it is a homage to that legendary recluse of post modern literature, who wrote books such as "V" and "Gravity's Rainbow."

The film is broken down into four appropriate sections: "Paranoia," "Disappearance," "Alien Territories," and "Psychomania," and it's wildly mixed reviews are a bit perplexing. One would think that a film on such a non-conventional literary figure as Pynchon would at least attempt to be fairly non-conventional in approach. The Dubini Brothers do not disappoint there. But then, we've seen this type of reaction all too often.

A number of Beatles "fans" expressed outrage towards Julie Taymor's Across the Universe. What made the Beatles so unique and timeless was they refused to buy into their "religious base." Once they were elevated to near divine status, the artists' response could easily have been to roll with what they (intentional or not) hit upon, follow the formula and keep that money machine rolling (aka: Elvis Presley). Instead, fans never quite knew what to expect of the fab four. The "White Album" was as certainly startling, perplexing and unexpected as "Revolver" had been. Of course, that didn't keep the pseudo fans from mantling unrealistic expectations on the solo Beatles' career or from ostracizing any and all experimentation in their gods' name (Across the Universe).

Psuedo fans from the church of Kubrick did the same thing when that usurper Steven Spielberg dared to take on A.I., possibly the most sublime and exquisite film of the last ten years or more. The resulting film was actually quite true to Kubrick's vision and even improved on it. A.I. also revitalized the art and career of Steven Spielberg.

Pynchon, that vastly complex enigmatic myth, 20th century literature's wandering saint, modernism's yeti, has also declined much advocated canonization. Thankfully, this film was made by true, dyed in the wool fans, not mere gold star wearing members of the Pynchon church/fan club.

Like Pynchon himself, the film is amusing, surreal, perplexing, anarchic, wry, self-mocking, speculative, subversive for the sake of being subversive, and ambiguous. One thing is for certain; A Journey into the Mind of P is hardly orthodox biography.

The bizarre score by The Residents (which surprisingly fits), impersonators, archival news footage, idiosncratic interpretations of 60's rock, obsessive fans and literary critics are just part of this strange brew that make up the film (and literary critic George Plimpton provides the most memorable quote in the film: "He's the sort of guy who could turn out an almanac in a week.")

Wisely, the filmmakers do not try to decipher Pynchon's work and instead, craft a film, inspired by Pynchon's work. There is even an Indiana Jones like hot pursuit of the the author, with Pynchon finally being captured on camera for the first time in 40 years (sound to good to be true? It probabaly is).

Revealing more in regards to Pynchon's biography, work, life details, would be the expected thing to do, so in the spirit of the film itself, ....

* my review originally appeared at 366 weird movies.

I'm not familiar with Pynchon's writing but am intrigued by his story. I got this movie because I like the band that did the soundtrack. I enjoyed portions of this film a great deal; Other parts of it were garbage. This large discrepancy is due to the varying caliber of interview subjects, and the presence of so much stock footage filler. A great deal of the interview subjects are clearly acid casualties with half-baked notions and memories that are inconsistent and don't agree with facts. Also, though they may be entertaining or interesting, there are too many clips of stock footage that don't directly relate to our subject. I understand that these clips are supposed to embody elements of history that influenced Pynchon, but I disagree with many of his editing decisions and would've cut what material is here down to maybe a fantastic 45 minutes. Therein lies the problem of having such an elusive subject as Pynchon. I imagine its hard to find enough relative material for a full length film.
Sympathetic to the director's cause, I enjoyed learning a bit about Pynchon and intend on reading his novels now. He sounds fascinating, and very mysterious. After this movie was released I read that he has since published three new books and is enjoying a renewed interest in his works. The soundtrack is appropriate in my opinion. The Residents are a band influenced by many of the same elements, of the same era, and are as elusive and mysterious as Pynchon. The entire soundtrack comes from "The Third Reich 'n Roll" album of 1976. It is a da-daist musical interpretation of the 1960's American pop charts, re-imagined as Nazi youth propaganda for the 1970's. Very harsh, dizzy, strange, and works well with this movie.

The first reviewer of this documentary suggests that if you've read all of Thomas Pynchon's books, then you're in for a treat. Having done so, I disagree. Pynchon is by far my favorite writer, and this is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen.

Since Pynchon left so few bread crumbs for anyone to follow, the directors are free to say anything about any and all aspects of his life and work. They interview "webmasters," "writers," and "critics," all of whom seem very slightly brain-fried, and not exactly reliable witnesses to Pynchon's life.

If the credentials and expertise of the interviewees were the only concerns, I might have given this three stars, and called it an interesting examination into the culture of a fandom left isolated and without input from its idols. But that is only the tip of this unfortunate iceberg. The documentary feels amateurish, featuring lengthy, boring swaths of poorly edited montages of unrelated black and white sequences. The music was silly. There was no central point. I don't know if I learned anything at all.

A rental at best, and only if you're a particularly committed fan.

This is a very low key documentary.
It has its pleasures for the die hard Pynchon fans (I'm one.).
You get to see some hardcore Pynchon devotees and that is alternatly funny, interesting and creepy.
There are no great insights into the literature though, so back to the books.

Do not buy this piece of crap. Lane is a pompous *ss. He gets things wrong, for instance, misdating the marriage of Richard Farina and Mimi Baez, and justifies making up stuff with the argument that Pynchon doesn't discuss himself so we can say anything we want. Save your money; I wish I had saved mine. I guess Irvin Corey's acceptance speech was worth hearing, though not worth [...].