LIVING ART, AND THE ART OF LIVING

A Brief Commentary on the film, “Town Destroyer”
by Mountain Shadow Director, John Bennison

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Oscar Wilde

Over the years, Mountain Shadow has brought our audiences a number of fine films depicting the life and talents of various artists. In 2021, there was “My Rembrandt,” that dove into the art world of Old Masters; exploring the motives of its elite. We also screened “Tove,” about the artistic struggles and unconventional personal life of Tove Jansson; who found worldwide success from an unexpected side project, with the creation of the Moomins.

In 2020, there was “The Artist’s Wife,” a drama that explored the challenge of dealing with creative afflicted with dementia. And, in 2019, we saw the drama about an art dealer who discovered the true value of an old painting in “One Last Deal.” The same year, there was “Paula.” It depicted the inspirational bio-pic about the German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker.

Back in 2017, we all loved the unique film, “Loving Vincent;” the world’s first fully oil painted feature film, bringing the artwork of Vincent van Gogh to life.

[btw: most of these films are available for members to check out in our Lending Library!]

Why so many films about “art?” There is, of course, a natural creative synergy between the visual and the cinematic arts; where the latter is able to virtually animate the former; powerfully bringing it to life in a fresh new dimensional way than paint brush and canvas can do alone.

It is the evocative power inherent in a powerful painting that can prod and provoke something in eyes and heart of the viewer. Ideally, the same is true in well-conceived, interpretive and creative filmmaking. Taking the subject matter and allowing it to transparently speak for itself for the purpose of conveying both the artist’s intentions and the viewers interpretation is the task and challenge.

These were some of my cumulative thoughts in October when I previewed the film “Town Destroyer,” at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I knew I wanted to share it with our Mountain Shadow audiences for two reasons. One, because this local documentary posed some of the very same dynamics expressed in various ways in those prior films we’ve shown.

But two, because it told a local story whose historical plotline was eerily similar to one of my other favorites from the Festival in MillValley, which we showed last month. “Whina” was the bio-pic of Whina Cooper, and her life-long battle to reclaim for the indigenous Mauri peoples of New Zealand their rightful place in that nation’s history.

The documentary film genre -- when well done -- can educate and enlighten viewers on any number of subjects. For example, from grade school days, most of us learned the idyllic story of our very first president, the cherry tree and how he could never, ever tell a lie. We might say times have certainly changed when it comes to truthtelling from the Oval office … But it would also include the way we view the full picture of the man originally depicted on the walls of a San Francisco high school, named in George Washington’s honor.

Consequently, “Town Destroyer” is yet another fine cinematic work that poses the same enlightening and challenging question of the viewer. jb