This is a portrai of artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles—the firstArtist-in-Residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation. Ukles uses garbage and left over materials to make her art. As she looks toward "retirement" she looks back at her life.
This film didn't work for me. The problem is not the art or the filmmaking, rather the problem is Ukeles herself. Her mannered, almost formal way of speaking makes he sound like a bad lecturer. Watching her interact with the garbage guys in some of the archival footage had me laughing. There is no sense of her being natural and she comes off as bad actress. In a weird way her presentation makes her seem almost like a human Marcel Duchamp/ Avant Garde work of art. She is the least natural person I've ever run across in a documentary.
There is some good material here and it is worth trying, but just be aware you may not connect to the film's subject.
No comments:
Post a Comment