Public Speaking

I have been reading, here and there, quotes from Fran Lebowitz for decades, not really knowing who she was.

She is a virtuoso at cutting through the haze and nonsense of American culture to expose the ludicrous truths beneath. I've always felt sort of silly, being American, and now I know why. Thank you, Fran, for putting into words what any well-traveled American already knows in their heart but can't quite verbalize.

We need people like Fran to give us an honest look at ourselves and knock some of the pompous self-righteousness out of us now and then. Thank you, Fran and Mr. Scorsese.

Public Speaking (2010)

*** (out of 4)

This HBO documentary caught my attention because Martin Scorsese's name was attached to it so that alone was reason enough for me to order the station. The so-called documentary is more like an intimate interview with writer Fran Lebowitz who is best known for her books Metropolitan Life and Social Studies. She's also known for her rather dry wit as well as her sometimes outspoken views on race, life and writers in general. This latest documentary from Scorsese really isn't a film that tries to teach you anything. I'll admit that I had never heard of Lebowitz so perhaps I was in a disadvantage going into this film but in the end I really don't think I learned anything about the woman. That's not to say this film isn't educational but I think it's main goal was just to showcase the woman and not necessarily give us her life story. We briefly hear her talk about her early life, her days in NYC and various things she did before she became famous but we usually hear these parts as they connect to something else. Lebowitz talks about people who feel that NYC was better before it became a tourist attraction. We hear her talk about the good that came from Obama being elected and the joke is that it was good simply because we don't have to keep wondering when the first black President would be elected. She gives her views on why writers should know something. We hear about smokers, people who write books when they shouldn't and of course she touches on a wide range of subjects. Lebowitz is shown at a couple public speaking events and she's also interviewed by Scorsese and another man sitting at a table. Did this film make me interested in Lebowitz? It did to a point but I don't think I'm going to be a life long fan thanks to the film. As usual Scorsese does a nice job and I really enjoyed the way he edited the piece by jumping from one interview to the next and constantly keeping everything going at a fast pace. The film runs 82-minutes and there's quite a bit covered in the rather short running time. Again, I'm sure Lebowitz has many die-hard fans out there and I'm positive they're going to love seeing her in an intimate session.

A truly delightful and enlightening experience. Fran Lebowitz guides the viewer through her experience with a multitude of famous, and now deceased, great artists. Although Fran is 14 years my junior, she has grasped the essence of America. A scene with Pack Paar and Oscar Levant is gracefully mixed with sound bites from William Buckley, Jr and the fine playwrights of the last century. I felt a great deal of empathy for her when she discussed what turned out to be a big guffaw at an outdoor rally organized by Joe Papp. Arts oriented persons should feel perfectly at home listening to her monologue. Whether I watch the History Channel, PBS or HBO, seldom is there as entertaining a story as this. This is a solid recommendation for anyone who wants an in depth personal account of the arts.

The main character of Public Speaking, the latest Martin Scorsese documentary/profile, is conversation. Only he is a little too fidgity visually (and why not, he's friggin Scorsese after all) to stay in one spot on a subject like Louis Malle could do with Gregory and Shawn with 'Andre'. Indeed Scorsese, while obviously being the one spoken to along with another person, by humorist/author Fran Lebowitz, she lets her mind and mouth, moving and thinking always as she speaks very fast but eloquently, let's that be the driving force of the film. He'll occasionally cut to a scene or something to demonstrate what she might be talking about, or something surprising like an old commercial from the 1950's or (gasp) footage from his own Taxi Driver to show what the streets of NYC in the 70's were like.

Lebowitz is the figure of the film, and if you can find her interesting and funny then you're good to go already. The crowd I saw the film with at a limited engagement in NYC was perfect to see it with: not too large, but totally in tune with her way of wit. Her attitude should be presumptuous and pompous - she's one of those who says "I'm right about everything!" - but she's right about enough stuff, and funny about it, that it's alright. She goes through a lot of topics, mostly about herself and how she came to be from a woodsy NJ background to one of Andy Warhol's not-quite pop-stars ("It was a joke!" she says of his whole concept of superstardom), how she gained some fame as a writer, and then slacked off for many years, and of course Feminism, politics, etc.

I was surprised how taken I was with her way of thinking and speaking, as I had never heard of her before watching the film. Scorsese moves things along at a fast pace but never where it's too fast, and we get to know this person by the end of a sorta dinner-conversation (though there's no food and no drink outside of water). The editing style, though mostly rather standard for the director (mostly cutting shots of close-ups and mediums of Lebowitz), is most on fire when he cuts to the clips, such as one between two older men on a 1968 TV show where the discourse becomes nasty very quick. What drew me in ultimately though, as much as it was Lebowitz being a charming (almost in spite of herself) figure, was how intelligence just radiates in the film and a quest for knowledge that is pertinent. You want to know about her, from her, whatever it is, and that's fascinating.

It's a conventional expose of an unconventional woman - that is, unconventional from today's standards of stupidity, ignorance, and corporate defeat. She's someone you might want to have a coffee with, if she could tolerate *you* first, or ultimately visa-versa.

Fran Leboits is an uncommon woman. The film is basically one long, casual interview.

She's a fast-talking, witty, very opinionated, intriguing story-teller. Her humor reminds me of a less crass, less cynical version of George Carlin. She talks about being a woman, the biological inequality of women (which I rarely get to hear anywhere), homosexuality, the military, marriage, her cigarette addiction, "elites", American culture, democracy, a little bit of everything. Instead of ramming her Jewish background down your throat, she makes humorous, poignant observations. Definitely check it out, especially if you live in or around NYC.