Benjamin Smoke
Filmmakers Jem Cohen ("Fugazi:Instrument") and Peter Sillen ("Speed Racer: Welcome to World of Vic Chesnutt") made BENJAMIN SMOKE over the course of ten years. It follows the crooked path of "Benjamin" (no last name), an underground musician, speed-freak, occasional drag-queen, and all-around renegade living in the hidden Georgia neighborhood called "Cabbagetown," and playing in an indescribable band called Smoke. The film includes a special appearance…
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Last updated: December 29, 2009, 12:00 am
Benjamin Smoke Customer reviews:
Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 3
(Gregory Gilbert, 2007-11-19) I was fortunate enough to be able to see this at the National Film Theatre when I was living in London. I was in a film class through University College London, and we had the chance to see about 5 of Jem Cohen's documentaries - and the best part was that Cohen was there too, and after the film he got up and spoke about them and took questions. I had never heard of Benjamin Smoke before seeing this documentary, but have been intrigued by him ever since. The documentary is stunning in it's portrayal of Benjamin, and you really do get the sense that you've been taken somewhere else - a completely different realm - if only for a few minutes. I'm a freelance photographer and I cannot say how often the images from this documentary have run through my mind as I've tried to capture my own sense of "difference" in the world. This is definitely a mood piece, and I'd say that it'd be best to watch it in a place where you can just focus on the film itself - let yourself be mesmerized by it...
(Christopher Gordon, 2003-12-20) The last thing Benjamin'd want is for some sycophant to "justify" his life. Jem Cohen does as is his want in evoking the life of a true elysian navigator: pastels, washes, cinematic perfumes. Throughout it all Benjamin riffs; his grit betraying a lucidity that many choose to ignore.
(James Mann, 2003-01-31) If this is your first exposure to Benjamin and the music of Smoke, you might find his openess and life unsettling, but given a chance this drug-gobbling, dress-wearing poet will take up residence in your soul. This film captures, probably as well as is possible, the amazingly unique man that was Benjamin. While the film shows us tragic times, it isn't a tragedy. Instead, it's the story of a brave--and strange-- heart, who just didn't fit into the "real" world. Our loss.