When I booked to see Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time on the big screen at London's National Film Theatre, I was expecting to enjoy it. Vonnegut is my favourite author, and for my 50th birthday my partner got me a signed copy of Galapagos, my favourite Vonnegut novel.
But what I wasn't expecting was how great the film would be in it's own right.
It is of course a fascinating insight into one of the most witty and humane writers of the 20th century. And is beautifully shot and assembled, with plumes of smoke constantly rising from the photos of Vonnegut with his Pall Malls in had, bringing even the still images to life.
But it is also a profundly moving film about human friendship.
The documentary has been over 40 years in the making, ever since a young Robert Weide, fresh from making a documentary about the Marx Brothers, contacted his literary hero and asked if he could make a documentary about him.
Vonnegut agreed, and over the years the two became friends, so much so that he becomes part of the story, much to his own chagrin.
Much like Vonnegut would enter his own novels to interact with his characters.
So much so, that finishing the film felt like having to let go of Kurt, who had died aged 83 in 2007.
So much like the nature of much of Vonnegut's own work, we have two compelling stories, the definitive documentary about Kurt Vonnegut, and the film-within-a film about Weide's on attempts to finish the film about a man who had started out as a literary hero but had now become a close friend, celebrating his own triumphs as a director, and giving him wise advice in his personal life.
Again like Vonnegut's own work, this complex technique is achieved without feeling forced, and is a pleasure to watch.
But what I wasn't expecting was how great the film would be in it's own right.
It is of course a fascinating insight into one of the most witty and humane writers of the 20th century. And is beautifully shot and assembled, with plumes of smoke constantly rising from the photos of Vonnegut with his Pall Malls in had, bringing even the still images to life.
But it is also a profundly moving film about human friendship.
The documentary has been over 40 years in the making, ever since a young Robert Weide, fresh from making a documentary about the Marx Brothers, contacted his literary hero and asked if he could make a documentary about him.
Vonnegut agreed, and over the years the two became friends, so much so that he becomes part of the story, much to his own chagrin.
Much like Vonnegut would enter his own novels to interact with his characters.
So much so, that finishing the film felt like having to let go of Kurt, who had died aged 83 in 2007.
So much like the nature of much of Vonnegut's own work, we have two compelling stories, the definitive documentary about Kurt Vonnegut, and the film-within-a film about Weide's on attempts to finish the film about a man who had started out as a literary hero but had now become a close friend, celebrating his own triumphs as a director, and giving him wise advice in his personal life.
Again like Vonnegut's own work, this complex technique is achieved without feeling forced, and is a pleasure to watch.