Thursday, August 11, 2011
CAGED
Today's film was the memorial documentary for John Cage
John Cage: The Revenge of the Dead Indians (1993)
This documentary done in the Cage style memorializes one of the most important composers in the 20th Century. And the 21st.
Beautifully structured and unstructured there is a lot of Cage music which will introduce the work. Included is a perfomance of 4' 33", the piece which has no score as such. This one was filmed at the demolished check point in Berlin days after reunification.
The visuals are wonderful. There are talking heads well managed and fit into the composition.
Cage himself is extremely engaging and there are at least six landmark smiles and wide open mouth laughs which are worth the price of admission right on the spot.
The philosophy of Cage's work is explored in as painless a way as could be imagined. Show don't tell.
I will watch this again and may, in fact, buy it as I would a record album.
This is a 5 out of Netflix5.
