Film; Notfilm

Playwright Samuel Beckett participated in bringing many of his works to TV but only once engaged in filmmaking, writing the original screenplay for the experimental short Film and completely overseeing the direction (attributed to longtime stage collaborator Alan Schneider). Film stars Buster Keaton as an unnamed man who keeps his face hidden from people, windows, mirrors, animals, and the roving camera that follows him through a city. It plays like you might expect from a playwright with a minimalist aesthetic, more conceptual than cinematic, and (apart from one absurd sight gag) largely fails to make use of the talents and experience of great silent movie comedian and filmmaker Keaton. But given the meeting of legends in their respective fields, it remains a landmark of sorts. And it inspired film restorer Ross Lipman to make the 2015 documentary Notfilm, which Lipman describes as a kino-essay. It's a fitting description for a two-hours-plus production that mixes interviews and historical documents together with observations and philosophical musings on Film, as well as the art and inspiration of Beckett. Available in separate editions, extras on Film include outtakes and the home video debut of a 1961 TV production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot starring Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith, while extras on Notfilm include bonus interviews (new and archival), audio recordings of Beckett and others, “The Music of Notfilm” MP3 recordings by Mihály Vig, and a reconstruction of a lost scene from outtakes. Together, these two entries capture an interesting and largely forgotten chapter in the work of one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)