This is a film which sticks in your mind long after it's over. It is up close and personal yet simultaneously far enough away for us to see things more objectively.
Thelonious Monk undergoes an ordeal with an interviewer that I've never quite seen before. Partly, that's by design. But the reality of Monk's experience is no less real. The approximate hour we spend with him as he's subjected to some form of social torture is unnerving and uncomfortable.
Alain Gomis constructs this film to peel back the layers of social nuance we can't perceive in real time. The separateness of this behind-the-scenes footage reveals many nuances to the hidden power structure between Monk and his interviewer. The genius lies within the layers revealed. Artist, race, temperament, status, power. Even more powerful is how the impact of this movie lies almost entirely in the unspoken or what's left unsaid. I think that's why the film has continued to occupy a larger place in my mind. It makes us, the viewer, do all the work. And it's not demanding work in the sense of us "figuring it out." Instead, our work comes with our natural understanding of social interaction. Walking away from the movie had me feeling a similar experience to walking away from a social interaction you can't get out of your head. Where did you go wrong? What could you have done differently? And with these questions you get closer and closer to a full appreciation of Monk's experience.
This is a film which sticks in your mind long after it's over. It is up close and personal yet simultaneously far enough away for us to see things more objectively.
Thelonious Monk undergoes an ordeal with an interviewer that I've never quite seen before. Partly, that's by design. But the reality of Monk's experience is no less real. The approximate hour we spend with him as he's subjected to some form of social torture is unnerving and uncomfortable.
Alain Gomis constructs this film to peel back the layers of social nuance we can't perceive in real time. The separateness of this behind-the-scenes footage reveals many nuances to the hidden power structure between Monk and his interviewer. The genius lies within the layers revealed. Artist, race, temperament, status, power. Even more powerful is how the impact of this movie lies almost entirely in the unspoken or what's left unsaid. I think that's why the film has continued to occupy a larger place in my mind. It makes us, the viewer, do all the work. And it's not demanding work in the sense of us "figuring it out." Instead, our work comes with our natural understanding of social interaction. Walking away from the movie had me feeling a similar experience to walking away from a social interaction you can't get out of your head. Where did you go wrong? What could you have done differently? And with these questions you get closer and closer to a full appreciation of Monk's experience.
