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Intellectual House o' Pancakes Webdiary

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2008-08-07 - 11:46 p.m.

When I become a nun, I want to be like Sister Madonna.


Saw the new Patti Smith documentary tonight, although to call it that is a bit of a misnomer. It's more like a home movie, with Patti as collaborator and narrator.

No yammering talking head shots of Bono saying how important she is (although he's in it for one millisecond), or any kind of linear storyline, just heaps of intimate footage of the woman and her family, performing, laughing, playing guitars with a redneck-y looking Sam Shepard, lounging on Baudelaire's grave, fiddling with Polaroid cameras, strolling Coney Island with her children (who are like fractal emanations of her).

It's a very sweet, cozy film, inspiring, lovely. She just comes across as a girlishly charming and vibrant person in a constant state of wonder.

All that said, I think the director could have edited it a little more tightly; some scenes just go on longer than they need to, and the film's mildly trippy non-linearity does not hold up for two hours, even for a fan.

But man it really made me wanna go listen to Horses again.

thoughts? (3 comments so far)

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