Remembering Arthur

Arthur Lipsett became an important name, especially in Canada, after his short "Very Nice, Very Nice" was nominated for an Oscar in 1961. That made him a filmmaker to be supported by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Through the use of segments from his shorts, footage of himself, and interviews with people who knew him well, this documentary covers many of his life important moments. As he ages, we see a creative mind descending into inward looking eccentricity due to mental illness. The film makes the ending feel foreordained. He buys a rope. Suicide.

Three interviewees are particularly important: one of Lipsett's girlfriend, Judith Sandiford, and two bosses at the NFB, Robert Verall and Colin Low. Those interviews and others are nicely woven together to form a compelling narrative of an original but troubled artist.

Well, you know me and documentaries - I think they all suck unless they're by Frederick Wiseman or are on a topic dear to my heart. Well Arthur Lipsett is DEAR, so sue me, because this artfully constructed array of talking heads allows us to come as close as we ever will to an understanding of this brilliant casualty of Canada's movie wars (he committed suicide in 1986). Problems do arise as we shift out of the NFB era, which takes Lipsett out of the production loop and gives the editors very little to cut away to. Instead we get a bit too much theorizing and extrapolating. But it doesn't over-indulge the who's-the-villain games (admittedly this was probably most expedient), and it serves the function of popularizing the man and his work, some of the greatest collage cinema ever, and a perfect meld of personal and sociopolitical agonies when he's got it going. Since NFB historians have always alternated bewilderment and contempt in dealing with his work, this is long overdue, and it's as close as you'll get to the real thing without tripping down to the Mediatheque because guess what? His work is being suppressed due to copyright issues...