Brian M Downing
Director: Alex Winter
Superbly made documentary of the eccentric musician using footage of his youth, professional work, family life, political activity, and illness and death. It gives a well-crafted and intriguing look at Zappa’s eccentricities, creativity, abrasiveness, and devotion to making music his way. Zappa comes across as so self-absorbed and antagonistic that his talent was constrained and most of his work was merely quirky fun. He could have been musical nobility but remained a court jester who performed the occasional great deed.
I came away from this film intrigued by Zappa and admiring many things about him. His distance from the music business resonated with my aloofness from political movements, administrations, schools, and think tanks.They all package goods for public sale and expect you to fit right in. All in all though, I found myself disliking the guy. That’s a testament to filmmaker Alex Winter who could have given us mirthful hagiography but instead his honesty and skill provided a truly great film.
© 2020 Brian M Downing
Brian M Downing is a national security analyst who’s written for outlets across the political spectrum. He studied at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago, and did post-graduate work at Harvard’s Center for International Affairs. Thanks as ever to Susan Ganosellis.