Swimming to Cambodia

Spalding's 'Swimming to Cambodia' defies the preconceptions often brought to a movie: we get to see one man at a desk, with a lamp and a glass of water, and a map of Cambodia with a pointer to help. And then Gray's amazing ability to hook the listener into his amazing free improvised anecdotes makes it worth a thousand blockbusters. Demme's film prior to this was 'Something Wild'... this is wilder and wittier. Do yourself a favour and watch. Spalding's tragic suicide last year brings a poignant edge to many of his existential observations, but this is uplifting, entertaining, funny and harrowing all in one. And it's a monologue. Sam Shephard once said it was impossible to compare anyone to Spalding, so unique was he. Here's the proof.

Spalding Gray calls his version of performance art a "talking cure." The facts, opinions, insights, fears and hopes drawn from the epiphany he received from his experiences in the Asian Rim shooting "The Killing Fields" and his education of the plight of the Cambodian people circa early to mid seventies is overwhelming. This is a story of the human condition as told by a master. He is Dr. Frankenstein creating the monster that is ourselves through a tapestry of wordplay that never seems overwrought or cumbersome in the slightest. This movie is one man reading from a standard notebook, behind a plain table accented with a glass of water and shadowed by a ceiling fan and selection of maps. Demme's use of lighting and Laurie Anderson's soundtrack provide all the dramatic power needed to sustain Gray as he literally helps us all better understand life, humanity and our responsibilities to each other while we spend time on this planet. Intense, funny, heartbreaking and invigorating; this movie inspires and changes all who watch it.

Spalding Gray is an amazing orator. They way he can interweave various story aspects into a narrative patchwork is riveting. As you can tell I'm a big fan of his work and this is probably his best. Directed by Jonathan Demme in a no frills to the bone style. The star of this concert isn't demme or gray, it's the elocution.

Jonathan Demme's directing is something to applaud. It is not easy to make a movie exciting when you just have one man sitting behind the desk talking for an hour and a half. Credit must be given to his and Spaulding Gray's planning of camera angles, editing, lights, simple but effective visuals, and of course Laurie Anderson's great soundtrack. But that's where the fun ends. Spaulding Gray manages to do a convincing job sounding like he's a brilliant observer of life and free nature, but he comes across as sad and arrogant in a weird way. Here's a man who seems to be playing around with moral relativism as he talks about his experiences with prostitutes in Thailand and about understanding why Pol Pot was so ruthless. But while he quietly decried the Killing Fields film director's view that there are moral absolutes in life, I felt uncomfortable. Gray seems to be one of those guys who seems to like pulling down everything in life (if it gets him some attention and makes people think what a smart and amusing guy he is). Oh sure, he definitely has a way with prose and meter as he pours out his speeches in aloof fashion. He is a talented man. But if one were to really agree with his nihilistic outlook on life, I could see not much of a reason for living. And it is even sadder given his suicide that happened years later.

He is wrong. There is purpose to life and there is GOOD as well as evil. So, while the film is a technical masterwork and Gray was no doubt extremely talented, I am am giving it a 5 for his nihilistic message trying to pass as "deep".

This thing is easily characterized as one-of-a-kind film, or at least I didn't ever see a film that even gets close to its context, techniques or style. Basicaly it's a raving, very funny monologue, but then again, much more than this! In 85 mins. it manages to talk about so many matters both serious and funny without making you be bored with it, at least if you 're a serious person, hehe :)

Of course these all are objective, but I loved it!