One last Fast Cheap post-
We haven’t talked enough about the movie as a work of art. We almost did, when we spoke about it as an elegy and about the editing process.
It’s not just a work of art, it is a work of art about art. It reminds me of that painting, I think it is by Degas, where you see the artist in a mirror in the corner of the room, painting the scene. Each of the four men interviewed has their obsession in common, like I said earlier, they are elemental artists working in different media. Morris is the fifth artist in the film, and I’d like to say we learn as much about Morris as any of the other four. It’s his work, his art. He shows his sensitivity to certain issues, his subtlety (and blatancy, at times), and a good bit of what might be his soul. At least, I felt like I knew him better than after the other films.
I read enough poetry to know that this can be a foolish path to follow, making the creator into the speaker. But I think, as he removes himself from the position of obvious speaker, we can make the inference.
Like I said in class, perhaps it isn’t about a moment of connection “I know you are, you know I am” but rather a moment of artistic triumph, “I know you will know I was.” Clyde Beatty can look into our eyes without an interrotron, seeing in the lens of the camera the myriads who wait to watch him. But then, how many of us knew about Beatty before Fast Cheap? The discussion of the transience of art in the flim would make another blog post.
This movie was a poem-movie. Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control is a misleading title. Perhaps it should have been titled Cut and Wait.
I hate to see this movie go- talk with me about it whenever you’d like