Michael Almereyda’s wonderful documentary William Eggleston in the Real World spends a lot of time noodling around about subjects Eggleston himself, in the closing conversation, professes to neither understand nor much fret about: what do [his] photographs do? How do they affect us? How do we watch them?
Luckily for us, the film doesn’t care to really answer, nor does it care only about that question. Instead, the film without any of that arty detachment follows Eggleston around as he takes pictures, content (mostly) to watch him work, or in the off hours to drink and draw and play music. He’s never terribly well-defined–and that’s actually to my liking, and the film’s effect. Rather than answering, it enacts the issues of art and image; the cinematography echoes and even at times captures the lush colors and compositions of the photographer’s work, and while never telling us exactly what to think it provokes sincere, curious reflection. I really enjoyed this. (Almereyda’s other doc on Sam Shepard–This So-Called Disaster–is also a fine film, about the staging of a play but best when hanging out with the playwright.)
Almereyda’s voice over comments about Eggleston’s work – either quoting the essay that went along with E.’s first book of photos, or his own very perceptive comments and questions – really impressed me.
And I suppose I wasn’t too disappointed in E.’s own common answer: “I’ve never thought of it that way.” He says it in such a way as to mean: “I don’t think that’s right,” NOT as “Hmm. Interesting point I’ve not considered yet.” It’s a rather stark illustration of how the artist really need not be at all an expert on his own art.
E.’s photos are just amazing, and there was enough of them interspersed with Almereyda’s rambling film technique to keep me interested, even if it did take three attempts to get through the rather short film. E. comes across as a cross between William S Burroughs and a tipsy Faulkner, and it is quite amazing how little regard he has for the OTHER camera, the one that is on him through the film.