Jack Kerouac – King Of The Beats
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: B
I did not
know much about Jack Kerouac’s work and really never read his books, but his
work, King Of The Beats (2001) gives
a brief-but-effective portrait of the short-lived writer and succeeds in
showing him as more than just another artist who became a victim of vice and died
too soon. It shows how he kept writing
with no major support and little encouragement, then lived to see some of his
success, if not how his words endured.
There are
the usual interviews with friends (Allan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs), and
some less know persons (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) that help to clarify the
biography, but the past taped and filmed moments with Kerouac himself speak
best. They speak of his approach, his
ideas, his thoughts, how he was able to defend his position on things, and how
all that stayed in tact as alcohol and unresolved emotional issues did not
break this part of his personality.
Forget about the Hippie stereotypes and how many today are trying to
write-off this period. After all, the
reason they are trying to is because this has to do with living and thinking
for yourself. That is all the more
reason to check it out.
The full
frame image is from an older analog transfer with muted color and is a few
generations down. Older monochrome
footage fares better, while some of the footage is from old analog videotape
and would not fare much better. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 is basically monophonic, but does play better in a varied way
we have come to expect from such documentary production and culmination. Extras include some voice over with
videotaped footage of the On The Road
scroll, clips on William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg documentaries (though
whether they are on DVD or not needs to be researched, though ordering info for
VHS is available), Beat websites list, photo gallery, and extras footage form
the Kerouac taping of his appearance on William F. Buckley’s TV series Firing Line. These are good and I wish there were more.
This and
many other documentary and special interest DVDs are available from Goldhil DVD. You can order at their website www.goldhil.com and get additional
information on this title, among others.
- Nicholas Sheffo
