The Many Miracles of Household Saints

Yesterday I watched HOUSEHOLD SAINTS and posted my review. Today I watched this movie. It's a movie by Martina Savoca-Guay, the daughter of the director and co-writer of the earlier movie, about the making of the earlier movie. It consists of clips and Ms Savoca and her husband-collaborator, Richard Guay, explaining what the movie is about.

I always have issues with this sort of movie, in which the artist explains what the art means. The artist comes from a position of power in the relationship, and works like this often result in the audience being irrelevant. The audience -- me -- takes the artist's work and filters it through his or her own perception and experiences, and comes to conclusions. "The art is about A, B, and C." Along comes a work like this one, and the artist announces "You are a moron. It is about X, Y, and Z."

How many members of the audience are willing to dispute the artist at that point? Very few. Here's my take on it: every work of art is finally a collaboration between the artist and the audience. And in the end, it is the audience who determines the success or failure of the art. It may take time, it may be acclaimed immediately and then reappraised, but it's up to the audience, not the artist. The artist is done. Move on.

Happily, Ms Savoca agrees with my appraisal. She looks at the movie and says she would like to change some things, but she is a different person than she was when she made it thirty years earlier. Don't muck with some one else's work. Leave it to the audience.