Notfilm

Ross Lipman's documentary offers itself as a 'kino-essay' on FILM, the fabulous collaboration between Samuel Beckett as writer and Buster Keaton as performer. Lipman noted the absurdity of producing a two-hour movie about a 20-minute movie, the ridiculous idea of a piece of art about art and not life. Yet, despite the storied nature of the collaborators and the people interviewed and caught on film for this film, the ultimate point of this work seems to be a contemplation of Beckett's work and what he was trying to accomplish. In Lipman's view -- or at least my interpretation of what his interpretation is -- is that Beckett's works are contemplations of the futility of life and and the nothingness that circles its little 0.

As such, it's a cogent and penetrating analysis of the creative process that Beckett went through, a partial listing of his chosen symbols offers a fulsome work about a major artist. Whether you enjoy his work -- in any sense of the word -- or, like me at a Magritte exhibit exhibit with a friend, think it's boring to see the contents of your own mind on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art or its screening rooms -- is up to you.

For a film revolving around three people whose work I really admire - Buster Keaton, Samuel Beckett, and legendary book publisher Barney Rosset - this documentary was a little tough to truly like. I loved the spirit of the thing, hearing Beckett's voice, and getting the anecdotes about Keaton both on the set and in his treatment for alcoholism. What an extraordinary pairing Keaton and Beckett were. Unfortunately, while the documentary is a well-researched labor of love from Ross Lipman, it sprawls on in ways that are often more scholarly than entertaining. I think it also suffers for me because its subject, the 24 minute short titled Film, is not all that compelling, and here we have it expanded into 130 minutes. As Beckett wrote about the absurdity of the human condition, it was equally absurd of him and Alan Schneider to not use Keaton's filmmaking knowledge while creating Film, the irony of which is a little depressing. To think this is what the great Buster Keaton was relegated into doing near the end of his life is tough, as is knowing he died just five months after Film's release at the Venice Film Festival where he got the standing ovation we see here. Anyway, Lipman probably should have pared this effort down and probably gotten better interviews as to what Beckett was trying to say. Regardless, I think I'm with Buster, I'd prefer a ball game.

The only thing that's clear from this film is that the narrator loves to hear himself talk. Another reviewer calls this film pretentious. That's being kind. The title card calling his film "A Kino-Essay" is just the beginning of this self indulgent jerk fest. "Blaahh blahh I'm so smart I'll do all the talking because I'm a horrible filmmaker and my kino-essay is a mess". God I'm wasting my life watching and writing about this. WTF am I doing? If you watch this, bring a pillow and a bag of heroin so you kill the pain and nod off.

The Plot. NOTFILM is a feature-length experimental essay on FILM -- its author Samuel Beckett, its star Buster Keaton, its production and its philosophical implications -- utilizing additional outtakes, never before heard audio recordings of the production meetings, and other rare archival elements.

Wow what a pretentious load of garbage. Jerky Lipman narrative about nothing. That goes on and on with no direction for over 2 hours. This is a 20 minute movie expanded into a sleep fest.

Interviews with 900 year old clowns who remember nothing. This movie is a waste of video.

I give this film 10 stars for efforts to create (from found audio & video) a glimpse into two important individuals in american culture. I subtract 5 stars for the final product that drags us through such a vapid documentary. This film might be an example of what people in several decades would experience if attempting to interpret the thoughts and meanings of a singular tweet of a current notable luminary of 2015. Probably has tremendous importance to someone, somewhere, at some time but it is lost on the masses.