AMARGOSA
AMARGOSA
July 15 2008, DVD, home living room, personal collection of Cecilia Cannon
An incredible portrait of an artist, and a heartbreakingly beautiful depiction of the sacrifices and joy of a life lived for art, this documentary explores the life, work, and motivations of Marta Beckett, who left a decent career as a dancer and performer in New York in the 1960s to move to a tiny little town in the middle of Death Valley. The isolation allowed her to work unfettered and free on creativity in all its forms - she dances, she writes music and skits, she makes costumes, and she paints - but of course, such freedom comes with the price of terrible isolation and a necessary self-sufficiency that is truly astonishing. And heck, Mary "Madame President" McDonnell narrates! Ten minutes into this film I was in love with Marta Beckett; thirty minutes in, I was envious of her; an hour in, I was crying, shattered by the knowledge that the more the self is given to art, the less it can be given to other people. This is the shame and the paradox and the glory. Such a high price. I haven't yet been able to pay in full.
Heavily recommended.
July 15 2008, DVD, home living room, personal collection of Cecilia Cannon
An incredible portrait of an artist, and a heartbreakingly beautiful depiction of the sacrifices and joy of a life lived for art, this documentary explores the life, work, and motivations of Marta Beckett, who left a decent career as a dancer and performer in New York in the 1960s to move to a tiny little town in the middle of Death Valley. The isolation allowed her to work unfettered and free on creativity in all its forms - she dances, she writes music and skits, she makes costumes, and she paints - but of course, such freedom comes with the price of terrible isolation and a necessary self-sufficiency that is truly astonishing. And heck, Mary "Madame President" McDonnell narrates! Ten minutes into this film I was in love with Marta Beckett; thirty minutes in, I was envious of her; an hour in, I was crying, shattered by the knowledge that the more the self is given to art, the less it can be given to other people. This is the shame and the paradox and the glory. Such a high price. I haven't yet been able to pay in full.
Heavily recommended.