Venice Film Festival 2022 | Fragments of Paradise

If (like I was) you’re unfamiliar with Jonas Mekas Fragments of Paradise from K.D. Davison will give you the answer. The documentary of the late poet, avant-garde filmmaker, and critic is laid out much like the avant-garde films he so loved.

The film intersperses interviews with footage from his known films, films he championed or inspired, as well as footage never before seen. And there was a lot of footage. Because, as noted more than once, his camera was a part of him and he was rarely without it, even towards the end of his life. In the footage he filmed later in life, he seems to question his very existence. It is some of the most profound clips, and its use within the film is well done. So, whether you are familiar with Jonas Mekas or looking to discover him, this documentary is sure to contain surprises.

It’s in the early films of Jonas and his brother, after they just arrived in New York, that I gleaned the man that would go on to inspire the likes of Andy Warhol, John Waters, and Martin Scorsese. In those clips, you could see his pure love of cinema shining through.

While the film is extensively a loving portrait of Jonas Mekas, it doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that he wasn’t perfect. Jonas Mekas wrote about film for The Village Voice. If you grew up listening to Rent, you probably view The Village Voice as very pro-LQBTQ+, and while that was true at the time of Rent, it wasn’t true at the time Jonas Mekas worked for it, and as the documentary comments, he did write stuff that was homophobic. But then he discovered a lot of the avant-garde cinema was queer, and he fought to screen queer cinema, going so far as to get arrested in the act. The power of cinema to change someone’s views in action? It’s a nice thought.

The film also touches on his activities during WWII. I looked it up after watching the documentary. The section in the film clearly attempts to address the controversy about his actions during that time as brought up by Michael Casper (without naming Michael Casper). At this point, I don’t think any information will come to light one way or the other. So, you can either choose to believe that he was pro-Nazi and fled the Soviets or believe that he wrote underground anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi material and take him at his words, “If you want to criticize me for my lack of patriotism or courage, you can go to hell. I do not want any part of this war. This war is not mine. I am a poet.” I’m inclined to takes his words because it doesn’t paint him as a hero. It doesn’t make him look great. It makes him look like someone who stood by as atrocities happened because they didn’t directly affect him, something we’ve seen happen time and again.

Fragments of Paradise (USA) premiered at the Venice Film Festival as part of their Classics section.

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