Llyn Foulkes One Man Band

I was so mad when this movie did not win an Oscar. It was such a masterpiece. Tamar Halpern spent years getting deep inside the mind and soul of this tortured artist, who is a genius unlike anybody else. The patience it took to really go deep to actually make us feel how the artist was feeling, was a beautiful work of art. Everyone who loves art, music, or film will be fascinated by how this artist is shown, peeled away layer by layer. Such an unusual film, I have never experienced anything like it. Pure genius! I think the only reading it didn't win was because that year there were two movies that followed the subject for years and the other one may have been thought of as more commercial for the general public. Big mistake, a film like this comes along once in a blue moon.

Llyn Foulkes like many dedicated artists is a borderline nut job, but he's also absolutely brilliant and while many of his peers have climbed the heights of modern art stardom, he is seemingly under-appreciated by the "art world". There are many reasons for this but his self-destructive tendencies and penchant for revisiting his work, and making everything that's not already sold a "work in progress" needing to be revised and tinkered with, are leading ones. Anyone who has worked on a creative endeavor or known someone whose personal relationships have taken a hit because of their obsession with their own visions will recognize and feel humbled by the demons chasing Foulkes, and you can't help but feel energized by his truly brilliant works of art and this film. Incidentally it seems that the film follows the same kind of Quixotic path as the person it studies. It was shot over a many-year period and at some points you even want to scream at Foulkes and the filmmakers as the artist once more plunges in and then assaults one of his "finished" works. But it's a good kind of pain and in the end I concluded the film was extremely well put together in a way that perfectly mirrored its subject. Anyone who is interested in the artistic process and the eccentricities of the men and women make great modern art, should see this film. Definitely not a film for everyone but if you are reading this and have learned about Foulkes then yes, it is probably for you.

This is a wonderful piece about obsession and perseverance. Foulkes is a somewhat prickly but ultimately lovable presence whose level of insecurity and self-doubt is matched only by his fierce intelligence and will to succeed. One of the things I loved about this film the most was the meditative rhythm with which it proceeded. Foulkes himself has a very particular way of talking, and the cadence and texture of his voice felt like a musical element that was well used by the filmmakers. He talks almost non-stop in the film, yet his silences are so well placed and so interestingly used that they speak volumes.

Foulkes makes a strong case for himself as a significant artist, and the film contains a lot of interesting details about his life and times. Dennis Hopper pops up here and there, and we learn a lot about the fickle whims of the "serious" art world.

Altogether, a very strong film about a unique individual.