Jobriath A.D. (2012)

Director:

Kieran Turner

Writer:

Kieran Turner

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale

Plot:

Called "The American Bowie," "The True Fairy of Rock & Roll" and "Hype of the Year," Jobriath's reign...

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Glam Rock | 1970s

Cast

Jerry Brandt	...	Himself
Jayne County	...	Herself
Dennis Christopher	...	Himself
Joe Elliott	...	Himself
Kristian Hoffman	...	Himself
Gloria Jones	...	Herself
Ann Magnuson	...	Herself
Miss Mercy	...	Herself
Jake Shears	...	Himself
Will Sheff	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marc Almond	...	Himself
Joseph Arias	...	Himself
Michael Butler	...	Himself
Lisa Fancher	...	Herself
Jim Fouratt	...	Himself
Travis Michael Holder	...	Himself
Jac Holzman	...	Himself
Danny Hutton	...	Himself
Sarah Kernochan	...	Herself
Eddie Kramer	...	Himself
Heather MacRae	...	Herself
Stephin Merritt	...	Himself
Allan F. Nicholls	...	Himself
Henry Rollins	...	Narrator
Justin Tranter	...	Himself

Directed by
Kieran Turner

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kieran Turner

Produced by
Kieran Turner	....	producer

Original Music by
Ian Moore
Jason Staczek

Cinematography by
Michael Canzoniero
P.J. Gaynard

Film Editing by
Danny Bresnik

Casting by
Michael V. Nicolo

Sound Department
Lisa Baro	....	sound re-recording mixer
Rachel Chancey	....	sound designer

Music Department
Amine Ramer	....	music supervisor
Michael Turner	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Rosemary Rotondi	....	researcher

Production Companies

• Eight Track Tape Productions

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Eight Track Tape Productions

An Ironic Documentary

As a documentary, this is a satisfying journey back into a time, a person who attempted to gain fame but alas, it was not to be. This is most certainly a Valentine to Jobriath, but it reveals something quite unexpected: it lets us see exactly why Jobriath never made it. Time will apparently treat us kindly through the lens of blame as an antagonist is always good on film. And here, we have Jerry Brandt to blame. The film explores their relationship without condemning but certainly leaning towards revealing Jerry Brandt as the single person responsible for the demise of Mr. Salisbury and his goal of stardom. There have been many reviews suggesting that homophobia was partly to blame, but the truth is, a certain David Bowie was the forerunner of this androgynous kind of performer. And the world loved it. Elektra records spent a fortune promoting Jobriath, but there was one problem: no one was interested. And the irony is that in this documentary, we understand why: he wasn't very good. His songs were not particularly memorable and his performances, many included in this documentary, were also not great. If Jobriath was ahead of his time, it was more in a Cirque de Soleil fashion, then someone ready to crash the walls of rock and roll stardom. That said, this is a good documentary in its intimate look at a performer, especially in the relationship of mother and son. We get that Jerry Brandy was selfish promoter and still is, as in many ways he is the central figure in this drama, albeit for often all the wrong reasons.