I bought the DVD when it came out. I enjoyed it, I watched it once, but I
dont think it's something I will watch again, not for a long time anyways.
It did give nice insight into his ideas and creative processes, which was
nothing new to me since I've seen Zorn about a hundred times, read interviews,
seen videos, collected bootlegs, bought the T-shirts, etc. (Actually I dont
have a Zorn T-shit.) I really enjoyed the live clips and wish there were more
included. I spotted myself at some of those gigs, in particular one of the
Masada gigs from December '95. That was pretty cool.
It did feel more like a film about Claudia Heurmann to me, but then I looked
more closely at the title on the spine: HEUERMANN: A Bookshelf on Top of
the Sky. So it makes sense. I do agree with others that it took alot of guts
and determination for her to even finish this thing, so she deserves praise
for that!
One thing in particular that stood out, and was something I didnt know
before watching this: Zorn talking about why he doesnt go back to Japan anymore.
Because he was getting vibed for being a Jew ?! I mentioned this to another
famous downtown musician/Zorn friend/collaborator, who summed it up nicely:
"Zorn's out of his mind...." (just talking about his political stances and
hard core Zionism.) Anti-semetism is everywhere.... but resenting the
Japanese for it.... gimme a break.
So yeah, this movie could've been better, but seeing how Zorn wasnt all that
into it, maybe not. More live performance footage wouldve really been
nice...
-Jody
