Ask Mick LaSalle:
The documentaries of Godfrey Reggio.
Dear Mick: What do you think of the nonnarrative, experimental documentaries of Godfrey Reggio (“Koyaanisqatsi,” “Powaqqatsi”)?
Juzo Greenwood, Berkeley Dear Juzo: These are excellent films, and original. I will say that a little of them goes a long way, but that’s the case with most long-form nonnarrative work. It is very hard for filmmakers to maintain interest without narrative, because once you grasp the concept and get the point, the movie is left hanging out there with a smile and a shoeshine trying to hold your attention on a minute-by-minute basis. I remember coming home from college one time and my father calling me into the living room. He had stumbled onto “Koyaanisqatsi” on public television. “Do you have any idea what the hell this is?” he asked. I didn’t, so we started watching it together. We both thought it was great. And then after about 25 minutes of being delighted by it, my father said, “Oh, OK. I get it. This is like something about the modern world being unlivable. Yeah, it’s good, right?” And then he picked up the remote and put on the Mets. Dear Mr. LaSalle: Are there any actors you admire for their offscreen lives, as well as their onscreen careers?
Alan Drucker, Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County Dear Mr. Drucker: “Admire” is a big word. Let’s go with “respect.” I respect George Clooney for his public conduct and for trying to use his fame as a positive force in the world. Actually, I respect anybody who has the power to get away with bad behavior and yet consistently, over the course of years, chooses to be nice. It’s harder to do than you’d think. Tom Hanks is in that category, too. Dear Mick LaSalle: An unprecedented six of the seven films opening in the Bay Area a few weeks ago were documentaries. What happened to movies that tell a fictional story?
Larry P. Miller, San Francisco Dear Larry P. Miller: Nothing. Nothing has changed. As people who write for and edit newspapers often need to be reminded, not everything is part of a trend, even if three or four similar things happen. Something else will happen next week and something different the week after that. The trend in publishing is away from novels and toward nonfiction memoirs, but nothing analogous is happening in movies. Dear Mick LaSalle: I always wonder if you emulate Percy Dovetonsils (Ernie Kovacs) when you do your reviews, sniffing at a nosegay and giggling over giggled remarks. Your review of “Silence” stinks. I saw the film a few nights ago and thought it was great as I have a particular interest in the story of Jesuits in Asia. One of my English literature teachers back in the ’60s at LaSalle University was Mr. James Kelly. No matter what film or book or play was enjoyed by a student, it always earned a put-down by Mr. Kelly, who sniffed his nosegay as he swished across the classroom. Don’t follow in his footsteps.
Andrew J. Betancourt, San Francisco Dear Andrew J. Betancourt: I promise to feel insulted the minute I figure out what you’re talking about. Percy Dovetonsils? Ernie Kovacs? Have you tried insulting anybody in the last 60 years? You really need to update your trash talk. Ernie Kovacs died in 1962, so no, I have not based my life on a character he did on his show during Eisenhower’s first term. Good guess, though. And then you drag in some English teacher from back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and I’m supposed to be offended by the comparison, except that I’ve never seen the guy. However, you can relax. I won’t follow in the footsteps of someone that no one has ever heard of and that I can’t possibly ever meet. So we’ve got that part sorted out. However, I will say you seem to have a “particular interest,” not only in Jesuits, but in nosegays and swishing. But really, there’s nothing wrong with flowers, and people are allowed to walk any way they please.