You know...I must be one of the few who gets where Zorn is coming from. Zorn gives you little clues throughout the entire film, but...he never gives them all at once. He's like one of those wise masters in the old KungFu movies. If you have read many of the interviews (which most of you have) then yo know other insights into his thoughts on art. Here are just some key points to consider: *Zorn believes in HONESTY. He doesn't do things because they're different, he does things because they're honest. What's the difference between what Huermann did with this film and what Zorn did with the Naked City compositions? He didn't write those to be different. He wrote those because of the way he "felt" at that time. It was an honest move. So was Huermann's. Personally, I didn't like her being in so much of the film...but...that's who SHE is, and who are we to judge her honesty, and what she "felt" needed to be in the film? *The film opens with Zorn saying "Nobody knows who I am except my inner-circle...am I a quiet meditative person, or an angry, obnoxious son of a bitch?" So...the point here is...he may love the film, he may merely respect Huermann's efforts and artistic license that she took with the film...he also may just feel that there's enough footage taken to represent his take on music and what others perceive about him. The point is...only Zorn knows. And seeing that it has been issued and released on his label...its kinda like this list is disemboweling his artistic integrity for releasing it, since the majority dislike the film. If artists like Zorn were to EVER cater to whatever the public wanted...then they wouldn't be who they are...they would be as guilty as every other bubble-gum pop sensation a la Britney Spears. So, let's let the artists be who THEY are...not whom we want them to be. *In an interview Zorn has been famously quoted as saying "I'm not concerned with the way things sound...as much as how they 'work'." This is a classic point to bring up in this debate about the film. Perhaps this reason alone is one of the reasons he took a liking to this film. Perhaps he didn't care as much about what all the film was saying...but how it was being presented. (i.e. lecture footage, sure...but seeing it through a monitor, from your own tv monitor...the fact that he used filecards to create various albums, and that she was documenting a file card composer with file cards...its kinda like those pictures you see of a person standing within a mirror of another mirror within another mirror. So maybe he was just impressed with the way the film "worked". *As one listed earlier...Zorn says...this film must go out and take a life of its own. When he writes something, Frisell would put his weird twist on it and it becomes something else. Zorn also says that parents make a similar mistake in that they raise a child to be something "they" want it to be, not let it go and make a life of its own. So...knowing that this film makes a little more sense. Also in the film, Zorn said...you can't wait for the support of others. You have to do your work, believe in your work, find a close friend-base that believes in you and your work, have "them" for support, and say "Fuck You!" to the rest of the world. Good advice. *Fact: Claudia Huermann's film is released on Tzadik records. Fact: many people on this list have been to www.tzadik.com. Fact: Many people have either forgotten or never bothered to read the quote at the bottom of the opening page that says "what you hear on Tzadik is the artist's vision...undiluted" Huermann's film was undiluted...who are we to say what is acceptable or not, or what the artist's vision "should have been"? *Lastly...Zorn is a man who's reputation and art thrives on the mysterious and the unknown. It's a pretty bold move to jump from duck calls to a Morricone album then to a 20th cent. classical album to a game piece, to an Ornette tribute to Naked City to Masada to Painkiller to the Gift to Electric Masada to IAO and everything in between and since. No one knows what his next move is...and that's what's so great about him and his art. The ever-changing and the unknown. But we respect his integrity and his vision....otherwise we wouldn't pour so much of our time, ears, and wallets into the Tzadik catalog. So...let's just chalk Huermann's film as the only current Zorn documentary, with an honest perspective from the "director's" point of view. And just knowing that whether we like ot or not...for better or worse...its honestly Huermann, and its her vision undiluted, and she has every right to say "Fuck You" to every one who doesn't accept, or enjoy her film. ----Nathan Holaway _________________________________________________________________ Dont just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/