minerwerks Blog

Under discussion:

Dazed and Confused  (1993)

Before Sunset  (2004)

You're Gonna Miss Me  (2005)

In its function as documentary on legendary rocker Roger "Roky" Erickson, 'You're Gonna Miss Me' features testimonials from rock notables like Patti Smith and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, as well as ubiquitous MTV talking head Kurt Loder. Interestingly enough, before we see any of them, and even before we see Roky himself, the first faces shown in this documentary are Roky's brother Sumner and his mother Evelyn.

The typical modus operandi for documentaries on rock 'n' roll legends is to go heavy on exceedingly positive interviews about the history and significance of the subject. In the case of Roky Erickson, we do get a sense that his work with the 13th Floor Elevators in the mid '60s was seminal and worthy of recognition. Roky's songs heard throughout the film are uniformly strong and attention-grabbing. Even in a disheveled, hesitant state, Roky still slips into a performance effortlessly and beautifully. Surprisingly, though, the majority of interviews concentrate on Roky's relationships. Ex-wives, friends and relatives get more screen time - by far - than critics or rock stars. It all adds up to a striking and singular portrait of a creative yet troubled soul.

In a sense, 'You're Gonna Miss Me' is the intrusion of a family drama on a rock documentary, with very compelling results. Intercutting keeps both narratives alive, though slowly, a shift occurs. The talking heads and text identifiers subside, leaving us to fully concentrate on Roky's present-day state (suffering from schizophrenia and unchecked physical health), as well as the conflicting points of view of what is best for his future well-being.

The subtext of the family drama here is the difficulties that often go hand in hand with extreme creativity. The portrait of mother Evelyn is particularly striking, as we are exposed to a wide array of projects that some might consider strange. She scrapbooks her life story on giant cardboard panels with text pages that look as if they were written by children. We see a video made by the mother featuring herself as a Queen and Roky as "King of the Beasts."

About an hour into 'You're Gonna Miss Me,' we get deeper into this family's story, starting with the background on Evelyn's experiences as a mother and wife, followed up with Sumner's tale of his break from the family home. Like a great fictional drama, all the pieces are in place for the showdown between these factions, and for that, you must see the film yourself.

Former newspaper editor and first-time director Keven McAlester does a skillful job interweaving these stories that appear to tell themselves. He is assisted adeptly by cinematographer Lee Daniel, who has worked on Richard Linklater's naturalistic, documentary-like films. Normally you don't think of how a cinematographer contributes to a documentary, but in this case, Daniel captures the almost surreal nature of the surroundings of the film's three principals and provides a sense of place. McAlester, Daniel and editor Victor Livingston all bring a very cinematic touch to the documentary form, using archive footage in very dramatic and complex ways.

Though not exceedingly harrowing or grotesque, 'You're Gonna Miss Me' might still be a difficult film to watch. Roky and Evelyn's lives are shown without compromise or judgement, including some tendencies that may be mildly disturbing. It's not as focused or streamlined as might be possible, but the film is still quite worthy of attention for the subtle and unique ways it plays with the conventions of a rock documentary. In the end, it comes down to being a dramatic story - not the one you might have expected about a rock star, but about a family.

Under discussion:

Drifters  (2003)

What's a studio to do when a film made in a foreign country requires a new title for domestic distribution? In this case, 'Drifters' is an English-language title for 'Er Di,' the nickname for the main character of the film. Translated for DVD, the character's name is "Younger Brother," which is actually a much more appropriate title. Most of the characters have similarly simplistic yet evocative names - Little Girl, Big Brother, Old Man, Son. In fact, it's that last character that this story hinges upon most.

At the core of this film is an intriguing tale of a father who is unable to have a relationship with his son. Younger Brother (Long Duan) had previously left his family in China and took up as an illegal immigrant in the United States and fathered a child with a daughter of a Chinese immigrant. As the film opens, the child, a citizen of the United States, is visiting China, but Younger Brother is not allowed to see his Son.

More symbolic of the original title, 'Er Di,' the drama of the film comes entirely from how circumstances affect familial relations. Younger Brother has two male siblings. The eldest, Big Brother (Yiwei Zhao), takes a very traditional view of family and feels that Younger Brother has a responsibility to bring the Son to the ancestral grave to honor their parents. The brothers also talk about the potential of carrying on the family line, which is turning out to be difficult for Big Brother. There is an interesting subtext involved, setting the film with a backdrop of China's entry to the World Trade Organization. There is a sense of loss - that this change is a symbol of the erosion of tradition.

The Americanized title of the film, 'Drifters,' does have a connotation within the story, as well. The film begins with a group of Chinese crowding on a small boat under the cover of night and it begins drifting away and disappears. Once we are introduced to the character of Younger Brother, it appears the title may refer to a Chinese person the way "slacker" applies to Americans. And while the early scenes of this film follow a young man who lacks direction and seems permanently sullen, we eventually learn the circumstances that have driven him to this state. I stress "eventually" because the film develops slowly and ambiguously.

While the drama eventually becomes compelling, 'Drifters' is a hard film to get involved in. So much of the early part of the picture is static and dispassionate. Eventually, everything starts to come together, but it takes a bit of time. The brooding nature of the main character borders on pretension after a while, and by the end of the film, there is no sense that the mystery created early on really pays off. That said, I'm quite happy that this turned out to be something more than a dreary portrait of a tortured soul.