 |
Maya Lin
|
Real Worlds
Comedian
Rated R
2002, Miramax
Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision
Unrated
1994, Docurama
One look at veteran comic Jerry Seinfeld tossing barbs at audience members disinterested in his standup act confirms that timeless showbiz saying: Comedy is difficult. The months of preparation necessary to create a funny standup routine is the subject of director Christian Charles' likable documentary Comedian. The film's clincher is its subject, Seinfeld, who returns to standup after walking away from his popular TV sitcom.
Charles keeps the camera low and distant, re-creating an audience member's perspective. Seinfeld's aim is to have a full set of new jokes, and it's fascinating to watch all the missteps along the way.
The best fly-on-the-wall moments in the film occur when Seinfeld gathers with fellow comics like Chris Rock and Colin Quinn to discuss standup. Seinfeld's story is paired with upstart comedian Orny Adams. Together, they offer a complete view of the standup universe.
DVD bonus features include a series of deleted scenes and commentaries from Seinfeld and Charles. But Comedian is too impersonal to be tagged a biographical documentary. Charles never really captures what makes Seinfeld tick. What we do learn is that he works hard at appearing naturally funny.
Director Freida Lee Mock captures the dreams, ideals and passion behind the work of architect/sculptor Maya Lin in her Oscar-winning documentary, Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision. Lin was a 21-year-old Yale University student when she won the commission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and Mock shows the controversy surrounding her design of a black granite wall listing the names of all U.S. soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. In Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision, Mock connects Lin's story with the bigger political picture, the attacks by conservative politicians and Vietnam vets who did not want a young, female Asian American granted the task of creating a significant war memorial. Equal to the political controversy are the film's insights into Lin's past life and her future career goals. Mock shows us the sculptor's childhood home in the rural college town of Athens, Ohio, and records her projects after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Alabama's Civil Rights Memorial, a monument celebrating the female population of Yale University and a sculpture commission at the Wexner Art Center in Columbus, Ohio. Like her landmark film Rose Kennedy A Life to Remember, about the political family's famous matriarch, Mock's Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision brings history alive through an intimate, personal story. Lin's artwork is transcendent, and Mock has made a transcendent film that shows the artist behind the work.
Comedian grade: B.
Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision grade: A.
Printer-friendly version
