The Mindscape of Alan Moore

One can say that a movie has a different impact on every person, and I agree with that, and i do realize that this is not a very well-made documentary per se, but it caused a major impact on me, very much because i wasn't expecting such a tremendous amount of information when i first thought about watching it.

I was, in fact expecting to see some kind of biography and a scratch on the surface on Moore's most popular comic books, and that documentary really have these features, but eventually it becomes a rare piece of modern philosophy and a way to relate with the world that at least for me was entirely fresh and new. A view on the subject of magic that totally made sense to me, and a reflection on our day and age that is realistically terrifying.

Yes, you'll watch a 80-minute monologue by Alan Moore, but I highly recommend it, because if you pay attention, this can be a very enriching experience after all.

The Mindscape of Alan Moore can hardly be called a documentary. It's just what the title says - the mind-scape of a brilliant, unique but also pretentious writer. The film is Alan Moore himself talking constantly for 80 minutes, apparently with no real editing or direction. It starts pretty conservatively with Moore talking about his early life, about how he discovered comics and how he got into the business, as well as some insight about his most important works - Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Swamp Thing, From Hell and Lost Girls, and those segments hold a lot of interest for fans. But from there, in the second half, Moore derails into long philosophical and quasi-spiritual ramblings that give some interesting insight into his mind and creativity, but really drag on for too long and show very little original thought that hasn't been expressed before by philosophers, spiritualists and physicists. As a whole this is less a documentary and more a chance for Moore to talk about whatever he wants; the visuals aren't interesting enough to make it any more engaging. It holds some interests for fans of Moore but keep your expectations low.

This man is one of the authors I absolutely admire. His thoughts are complicated, yet quite clear. His comics are full of action and in the same time full of deep underlying messages.

However, he is sometimes very ... controversial. In this document, he tries to explain his thought on magic, his thought on the modern, commercial world, and he talks about how he became a comic writer.

This document is strong in moments, when there is only Alan speaking and telling his story. But when the author of documentary tries to use his own approach, the film became boring. So yes, we will see Rorschach on the roof - and it is the most boring Rorschach I have seen. The music is also inappropriate and special effects are laughable (yes, there are special effects in interview. don't ask me why.)

But the interview with Alan is really worth watching this documentary or buying it on DVD.

I am a huge Alan Moore fan, so naturally I grabbed up this opportunity to see into the mind of one of my heroes when I saw it at the local underground rental place (Atlanta: Videodrome!).

I feel bittersweet about it.

On the one hand, Moore's views are more than just interesting, they're possibly life changing. They are extremely unique and they help to bring together a lot of the threads he's explored in so many works.

On the other hand, the visuals of the film are largely pointless. Yes, I understand this is supposed to be a 'mindscape', but just putting backwards running footage of psychedelic colors doesn't add anything to what he's saying.

If you're interested in the views of Alan Moore but you also have a respect for film, I suggest you try to find a transcript of what he says over the course of this film. His essentially long monologue is extremely intriguing and is worth hearing/reading, but the film is not, in my opinion.

Interestingly enough, the bonus features are worth a rent...there are interviews with several key figures in the comic book world (Dave Gibbons, David Lloyd, and four others), whose interviews are much more straightforward and almost as interesting, without all the distracting and irrelevant 'mindscape'.

Basically all this film manages to do is prove how superior Alan Moore feels to everyone. Early in the movie he comments about his already huge ego as a 17 year old, and it seems that balloon has continued to become over-inflated throughout the intervening years.

Moore does go into some detail about his childhood and how horribly bleak the world around him was - how he was saved by comic books and set about to write comics of his own. Interesting, but really of no value to anyone wanting to know 'how he did it'.

The entire second half of the movie is Moore waxing poetic about magic, how he is a magician, how science knows and can prove nothing, and how much better his own ways are. He even goes so far as to quote a few others who he believes are "in the know" and then either overtly takes credit for their ideas or usurps them into a twisted notion he claims is his answer to life the universe and so on.

Essentially, Moore seems to be trying to set himself up as a latter-day Alistair Crowley, rather unsuccessfully. As he goes on about his theories of meta-physics, pseudo-science, amateur psychology and spiritualism, it becomes quickly apparent that Moore not only wants, but craves attention - strange for a man who claims early in the film to have no use for his own celebrity.

When I watched this film I thought I would get a look at how Moore created such amazing tales as V for Vendetta, From Hell, The Watchmen and others - instead, it just left me wondering how the poor fellow could have become so deluded about the world and his place in it.

It will not surprise me to hear Moore has attempted to start his own cult, I just seriously doubt many people will be lining up to hear his brand of new-age meta-physical strangeness.

He should have just stuck to comics...