Benjamin Smoke

For the uninitiated (most of us), a little more background would have been appreciated, but this strikingly photographed 2000 documentary captures the hard scrapple essence of its subject. Benjamin, whose voice is reminiscent of Tom Waits', was a local hero in the Athens, GA underground music scene with his group Smoke (a band Billboard called "maddeningly hard to describe"). Years of substance abuse and the ravages of AIDS have taken their toll on the emaciated figure we meet early on, but his wit and fearless spirit seem undimmed as he recalls his hard-knocks life growing up gay and poor in derelict neighborhoods. Benjamin was championed by the likes of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Patti Smith, who was a profound influence on him (she sets the stage for the film with a poetic quote: "He throws back his head yet he does not sing a thing mournful"). Sad, funny, and moving, Benjamin Smoke is a little-seen, little-known film that deserves a wider audience. Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)