Monday, July 19, 2010
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Monday, July 19, 2010
AT THE ART HOUSE
Revered And Reviled: Lens Finders And Lens
Seekers, Coming Soon For Renewed Editions Of Fame
Institutions: Ron Galella in 1971 in New York City in the
documentary "Smash His Camera"; Joan Rivers in the documentary "Joan Rivers: A
Piece Of Work". Magnolia Pictures; IFC Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Monday, July 19, 2010
Whether truthful, unfairly or otherwise, the lens it seems, has the final word.
And soon two feature documentaries will bring fame and its high price tag into
full focus, as two iconic American figures are chronicled from opposite sides of
the camera.
The Ricki Stern-Annie Sundberg documentary "Joan
Rivers: A Piece Of Work", already in some movie theaters, captures the
polarizing figure that is Joan Rivers, a showbiz lifer who would detest the word
"icon" as her middle name.
"A Piece Of Work" follows the comedienne and actress unmasking her greatest
fears: that no one will take her seriously as an actress, and that the big
appointment book her loyal assistant keeps will be blank, bright and lily-white.
Or, as empty as invisible ink.
Ms. Stern's and Ms. Sundberg's documentary resists judgment, its star's
revelations looking to shock and surprise all at once, with the diva
oft-regarded as both talented and tasteless disclosing her hardships,
tribulations and triumphs in a neat and tidy 82 minutes. Ms. Rivers, at 77
now, is still as sharp and scathing as ever, but somehow, in an age where many
stars entering their sixth and seventh decades become ready-made self-parodies,
the red-carpet maven and comedy maverick has remained intact, independent and
immune from withering under intense criticism.
Joan Rivers is hardly reborn, she is remaking and rewriting the chapters of the
past for a new generation, many of whom have only seen her on the NBC television
show "Celebrity Apprentice", the TV Guide Red Carpet Awards specials or on the
QVC Shopping Network.
Ms. Rivers has reason to worry about the fickle nature of show business; she
relates the tragedy that befell her husband Edgar following the success of her
nightly talk show on Fox television. She constantly seeks an extension of
fame, adapting to the anything-goes-everything-now nature of today's Twitterfied
fast-food fame to stay relevant, even if that means doing things some
entertainers would never dare. Her daughter Melissa reveals a well-known
truism her mother doesn't acknowledge: that within every comedic stage performer
is a deeply insecure person screaming to be let free and noticed.
By the time "Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work" has ended, we learn that Ms. Rivers
and face-time has no expiration date, even if the loyalty of a team member does.
The loyalty Ron Galella has is to the images he frames with his camera.
In the 2010 Sundance award-winning documentary "Smash His Camera", Leon Gast
showcases Mr. Galella's four-decades-and-counting career as a photographer of
the famous. (The film, which aired on HBO last month, will arrive in
select U.S. theaters on July 30.)
Image, as Andre Agassi once declared, "is everything", but in "Smash His Camera"
it is the defining thing.
One of the most famous and arresting images in Mr. Gast's film is of Jackie
Onassis, caught in a moment of apparent recognition of her ardent pursuer on a
Manhattan street in 1971. She obviously knows what the spotlight brings,
and what being the center of it entails. The discussion of Mr. Galella's
photograph of Ms. Onassis marks the zenith of fascinating moments in "Smash His
Camera", which is more about infamy than it is fame. In the vast majority
of cases Mr. Galella's subjects -- Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Andy Warhol,
Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Redford and a host of other celebrities -- are not
ready for their close-ups, nor do they want to be.
Jackie Onassis, on whose name Joan Rivers makes an arguably racist variation in
a joke about the current First Lady in the Stern-Sundberg film, is the
centerpiece of Mr. Gast's documentary.
"Smash His Camera" is as playful and hilarious as anything you'll see on the big
screen this year. Where "Exit Through The Gift
Shop", one of the year's very best films, is a sly, satirical send-up of the
documentary format, artistic glories and self-reverence, Mr. Gast's film
captures the genuine humor of the 79-year-old Mr. Galella, whose best work is
often done with a smile, charm and the occasional sight gag.
Every picture tells a story, and "Smash His Camera" doesn't reveal Ron Galella
seeking fame so much as he captures it. He is relentless in his endeavor.
Mr. Galella behaves as intrepidly and shrewdly as any detective or criminal
would as he reconnoiters the landscape of an event or party where an intended
celebrity is scheduled to appear, readying himself for that split-second of
action that will catapult his payday into a potential five or six-figure
stratosphere.
Mr. Galella, who views himself less as a paparazzo than an artistic photographic
talent, reveals little of his personal life in "Smash His Camera", and viewers
will see that his own life is not the point. In rare moments of
introspection he comments on his life and the raison d'etre for his incessant,
unwavering thirst to capture fame and freeze it in its tracks. He has his
detractors and defenders, and both share some of the funniest anecdotes, some
dished out with doses of contempt.
Like Ms. Rivers, Mr. Galella wants the spotlight, but he also wants to dictate
the terms of his engagement in it. He, like the late Ms. Onassis, knows
that his reputation -- whether good or bad -- precedes him.
To that end, both documentaries serve as outtakes of the subjects' off-camera
lives, even if they don't intend to be correctives of their proponents notorious
behaviors or public dispositions.
One refreshing aspect of both "Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work" and "Smash His
Camera" is that they arrive in the midst of a summer largely blanketed by poor
Hollywood blockbuster films tailored to the tastes of the under-30 crowd.
(Make that the under-20s.) Not only are both documentaries
independently-released films (IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures respectively), but
they are also adult entertainments about notable figures whom people in their
50s or 60s are more likely to be familiar with than those seeing "Twilight:
Eclipse".
Fifty-somethings are a demographic Hollywood studios generally don't think
about, and to the extent they do, the age-group is often served with big-budget
films like "It's Complicated", a parody of
what older people are supposed to be like -- specifically older women -- where
romance is concerned.
Take note of the population at your local theater when "A Piece Of Work" and
"Smash His Camera" are playing near you (if they get there.) You will
probably see a grayer element. Ironically the larger realization is that
these films are also a comment on the shifting shape of show business and how
fame is defined today. There's a nostalgia of now that defines these
films, even if both Joan Rivers and Ron Galella have had bigger heydays than
they do right now. (Both may well say that these present days are the
biggest and best of all.)
Skirting the edges of both films (each filmed within the last two or three
years) are the onset of TMZ, RadarOnline and reality television, dimensions
which now dominate the American pop culture news and entertainment scene,
particularly in terms of how and where Americans get their celebrity (and other)
information. Left unsaid in "Smash His Camera" is that the Ron Galellas of
the world, revered or reviled as they may be, are a breed of photographer that
is becoming increasingly rare.
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