By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Almereyda
Country: united_states
Year: 2005
Running time: 87
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443698/combined
Bruce says: “Born in Oxford, Mississippi, William Eggleston settled in Memphis where he has lived most of his adult life. WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD begins as Bill Eggleston and his son traipse around Mayfield, Kentucky on a photo shoot commissioned by Gus van Sant. No drive-by photographer, Eggleston finds his subjects by walking. Bill Eggleston appears to be a nondescript middle aged man from mid-America with a milquetoast look that could easily translate into latent flasher considering the coat he is wearing. As the film progresses we learn that Eggleston is anything but run-of-the-mill.
“Considered by many to be one of America’s greatest photographers of the 20th century, Eggleston estimates that he has taken over 450,000 photographs. His signature is finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. While he did black and white photography in the 60s he is best known for his brilliantly colored photographs which he began taking in the 70s and developed using a dye separation which in today’s world is uncommon.
“Eggleston is taciturn so there is very little he has to verbally offer the filmmaker. He does occasionally say things he thinks are important. We learn that he believes ‘in the democracy of objects’ – everything is worth looking at. When people pressure him to answer questions about his work he often utters in monosyllables. At one point he answers a question with ‘photography has nothing to do with words.’ As driven as he is, Eggleston is comfortable with his art and the Eggleston Foundation which Winston, his youngest child, runs.
“We get to see the real Eggleston, a chain smoking, hard drinking man with two long term mistresses and a penchant for collecting a cast of characters throughout his life. We actually see him at girlfriend Leigh Haslip’s house where he appears to spend plenty of time, perhaps a home-away-from-home. We see Eggleston sketching and Haslip morbidly predicting she would die of cancer. At the end of the film is a scene where Haslip and Eggleston are noticeably drunk. Roy Orbison is singing ‘In the Real World’ and Haslip remarks, ‘If we lived in the Middle Ages, we wouldn’t have Roy Orbison.’ Haslip died of alcoholism in 2003. WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD is anything but slick. Almereyda treats his subject as though he were making a home movie not a first run documentary film. It is a good match for an unassuming, non-pretentious man. 3.5 cats
“WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD was shown as part of the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival.”