Fast, cheap & out of control /
The creator of such groundbreaking films as 'A Brief History of Time', 'The Thin Blue Line', 'Vernon, Florida', and 'Gates of Heaven', Errol Morris is one of the most original filmmakers working today. His latest, 'Fast, cheap & out of control',...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Video |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | In English. |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
Sony Pictures Classics,
1997.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to this streaming video (Alexander Street Press) |
| Summary: | The creator of such groundbreaking films as 'A Brief History of Time', 'The Thin Blue Line', 'Vernon, Florida', and 'Gates of Heaven', Errol Morris is one of the most original filmmakers working today. His latest, 'Fast, cheap & out of control', may be his most unusual work yet; Morris refers to it as 'the ultimate low-concept movie -- a film that utterly resists the possibility of a one-line summary.' The film interweaves the stories of four obsessive men, each driven to create eccentric worlds of their dreams, all involving animals: Dave Hoover, a lion tamer who idolizes the late Clyde Beatty, and who shares his odd theories on the mental processes of wild animals; George Mendon�ca, a topiary gardener who has devoted a lifetime to painstakingly shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; Ray Mendez, who is fascinated with hairless mole-rats, tiny buck-toothed mammals who behave like insects; and Rodney Brooks, an M.I.T. scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs without specific instructions from a human controller. As the film proceeds, thematic connections between the four protagonists begin to emerge: the lion tamer and the topiary gardener look back at ways of life which are fading from the scene; the mole-rat specialist and the robot scientist eye the future, envisioning creatures that may someday replace the human race. The film's style is as adventurous as its subject matter. Working with Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson ('Natural Born Killers', 'Casino'), Morris utilizes numerous film formats and resolutions--including black & white, color, 35mm, 16mm, Super-8 and video, as well as stock footage, old movies and cartoons -- to create a singularly impressionistic collage of images. Morris' trademark unblinking interviews were shot with his invention, the Interrotron, which allows his subjects to look directly into the camera lens and, at the same time, have eye contact (through an image projected on a teleprompter) with Morris. The film's unique vision is echoed by Caleb Sampson's haunting and powerful score. Hilarious, sad, absurd, eerie and beautiful, 'Fast, cheap & out of control' is a film like no other. Starting as a darkly funny contemplation of the Sisyphus-like nature of human striving, it ultimately becomes a profoundly moving meditation on the very nature of existence. |
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| Item Description: | Title from resource description page (viewed January 05, 2017). |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (83 minutes) |
| Playing Time: | 01:22:48 |
| Awards: | Won 1998 National Society of Film Critics Awards, Best Non-Fiction Film Won 1997 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Best Non-Fiction Film |