Water Cooler Buzz: The opening brilliantly sets the tone of the film's story and art: an introduction of the radical American artist, spliced in contrapuntal cohesion from Ginsberg's early TV appearances with a slightly sneering William F. Buckley and a genial Dick Cavett. A 25-year labor of love for Aronson, the feature documentary has even more of what earned it a Grand Jury Prize nomination at 1993's Sundance Film Festival: Intimate conversation with soft-spoken Ginsberg blending in and out of historical footage and friends' ruminant recollections that underscore the reverberations of his impact. One disc became two as the homage expanded to eight hours with participation from an eye-catching slate of celebrities (Johnny Depp, Bono, Yoko Ono, William Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson). And, in Ginsberg's own modest voice, the powerful poetry that provoked America's consciousness. |