Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (2006)

Director:

Mary Jordan

Writer:

Mary Jordan (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A mesmerizing collage of images and audio from the life and work of Jack Smith, the underground filmmaker...

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jack Smith	...	Himself (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nayland Blake	...	Himself
Ira Cohen	...	Himself
Tony Conrad	...	Himself
Richard Foreman	...	Himself
Ivan Galietti	...	Himself
Helen Gee	...	Herself
Robert Heide	...	Himself
Henry Hills	...	Himself
Gary Indiana	...	Himself
Ken Jacobs	...	Himself
Mike Kelley	...	Himself
George Kuchar	...	Himself
Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt	...	Himself
Sylvere Lotringer	...	Himself
Agosto Machado	...	Himself
Judith Malina	...	Herself
John Matturri	...	Himself
Taylor Mead	...	Himself
Jonas Mekas	...	Himself
Mario Montez	...	Himself
Billy Name	...	Himself
William Niederkorn	...	Himself
Uzi Parnes	...	Himself
Lawrence Rinder	...	Himself
Ari M. Roussimoff	...	Himself
Andrew Sarris	...	Himself
Mary Sue Slater	...	Herself
Sue Slater	...	Herself
Abbe Stubbenhaus	...	Himself
Jerry Tartaglia	...	Himself
Ronald Tavel	...	Himself
Ela Troyano	...	Herself
John Vaccaro	...	Himself
Andy Warhol	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Waters	...	Himself
Robert Wilson	...	Himself
Holly Woodlawn	...	Himself
Mary Woronov	...	Herself
Nick Zedd	...	Himself
John Zorn	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Tongue Press

Quotes:

Jack Smith: I was knocking myself out to make this stuff. And I always assumed that people would see this and have pity and give me a little support.
[shouts]
Jack Smith: They didn't!

Fascinating documentary about an unique figure

Jack Smith was, as several noted in the film, the artist's artist. His work was unique, revolutionary, and quite daring. However, his greatest asset (a highly uncompromising nature) was also his greatest downfall. His insistence on doing things his own way and having no interest in commercial prospects was commendable, but certainly no way to live. He starved for most of his life, seeing his most notorious work "Flaming Creatures" gain more and more infamy with all the proceeds going to its distributor. While artists he influenced such as Andy Warhol and John Waters became cultural landmarks, Smith is still largely unknown. However, his output is truly amazing even today and this film is probably the easiest way to see clips from his work.

The documentary itself takes on a highly subjective tone, but I feel that it for once works in the favor of its subject. The makers obviously felt great sympathy towards Smith, and their biased format makes it easier to tap into Smith's mind and his disdain for commercial art. The film finds the perfect balance between interviews and archival footage - this is far more than just a series of talking heads and is much more quickly paced than the average documentary. "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" is a highly valuable cultural artifact and the easiest way to learn about an influential artist who's still unfortunately overlooked. (8/10)