A must-see for Kuchar fans and neophytes alike, It Came From Kuchar is a hugely entertaining and comprehensive survey of the work of legendary underground filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, edited together with fascinating commentary from both twins, as well as interviews with the film artists and critics they have most inspired - John Waters, Guy Maddin, Atom Egoyan, Buck Henry, Wayne Wang, and B. Ruby Rich, among others. Director and one-time student of George Kuchar (he still teaches at the SF Art Institute) Jennifer Kroot has made a knockout film, lovingly researched, beautifully crafted and intelligently collaged, so that interviews and clips support one another in ways both clarifying and hilarious. The Kuchars' outrageous, campy, absurd plots, gestures, costumes, characters, sets, and 'effects' (zero-budget, cardboard and glitter) spring straight out of the deeply unglamorous world of 1950's era Bronx tenement-life like exotic plants, so that ironing boards and bedroom slippers rub up against UFOs and gorillas in a tawdry blend of kitchen-sink sci-fi fantasy soft-porn and shlock-horror that is frankly delightful to watch, and often strangely endearing as well, even poignant, always and very - human. Neither brother shows any interest in commercial success (for which, as John Waters remarks, they should be knighted) and it shows, in both their interviews, which reveal truly eccentric and charming characters, and their consistently zany films, paintings, prints, and comic-strips. Their work diverges into separate streams - compare George's wacky, carnal romps with purple spiders and old ladies without panties to Mike's more haunting, fantastical dreamscapes - but the artwork and films still echo and complement one another in quite remarkable ways, as do the twins themselves, who seem to be elaborating different areas of the same, intricately complex brain. Taken together this mass of brilliantly edited material has produced something far greater than the sum of its parts, an extraordinary film about extraordinary films which is hands-down the most delightful thing I've seen all year.
Monday, April 12, 2010
It Came From Kuchar
A must-see for Kuchar fans and neophytes alike, It Came From Kuchar is a hugely entertaining and comprehensive survey of the work of legendary underground filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, edited together with fascinating commentary from both twins, as well as interviews with the film artists and critics they have most inspired - John Waters, Guy Maddin, Atom Egoyan, Buck Henry, Wayne Wang, and B. Ruby Rich, among others. Director and one-time student of George Kuchar (he still teaches at the SF Art Institute) Jennifer Kroot has made a knockout film, lovingly researched, beautifully crafted and intelligently collaged, so that interviews and clips support one another in ways both clarifying and hilarious. The Kuchars' outrageous, campy, absurd plots, gestures, costumes, characters, sets, and 'effects' (zero-budget, cardboard and glitter) spring straight out of the deeply unglamorous world of 1950's era Bronx tenement-life like exotic plants, so that ironing boards and bedroom slippers rub up against UFOs and gorillas in a tawdry blend of kitchen-sink sci-fi fantasy soft-porn and shlock-horror that is frankly delightful to watch, and often strangely endearing as well, even poignant, always and very - human. Neither brother shows any interest in commercial success (for which, as John Waters remarks, they should be knighted) and it shows, in both their interviews, which reveal truly eccentric and charming characters, and their consistently zany films, paintings, prints, and comic-strips. Their work diverges into separate streams - compare George's wacky, carnal romps with purple spiders and old ladies without panties to Mike's more haunting, fantastical dreamscapes - but the artwork and films still echo and complement one another in quite remarkable ways, as do the twins themselves, who seem to be elaborating different areas of the same, intricately complex brain. Taken together this mass of brilliantly edited material has produced something far greater than the sum of its parts, an extraordinary film about extraordinary films which is hands-down the most delightful thing I've seen all year.
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