The motion picture that changed my life:
Fast, Cheap, And Out Of Control.

I was looking for a good interview with Errol Morris to link to in my web log, because Errol Morris has made so many non-fiction films that blow my mind with each viewing. No movie has blown my mind more than Morris's late nineties masterpiece, "Fast, Cheap, And Out Of Control," and a widely misunderstood masterpiece it is. Seeing this movie in a small, uncrowded San Francisco theater, toward the very end of its theatrical release, gave me a wholly unfamiliar experience, that of feeling drawn back away from civilization far enough to see it entire, and to reacquaint myself with my tiny place in it, and to love my tiny, hardly significant life without illusion. For any natural born narcissist, this is needed perspective. "Fast, Cheap, And Out Of Control" is like a tender, melodious, premature elegy for humanity itself. The deep resonance of this theme was reflected down a virtual hall of mirrors, as the exacting, eccentric, uncelebrated missions of the four utterly unique and obsessive subjects found an echo in the undercelebrated status of Morris's work in general, and of this film in particular, his central exploration of meaning and purpose in life.

According to Netflix you can put it in your queue. From their blurb you'd expect an interview movie about people with strange jobs. Yeah, let's get THAT one... If you do see the picture, you're likely to conclude that life itself has been similarly misapprehended by most of its participants. Starting with yourself. Here's about as good a review of the film as I've run across.


"Truth is not guaranteed by style or presentation. It's not handed over on a tray like a Happy Meal. It's a quest. It often is as interesting to chronicle people's persistent avoidance of the truth as their pursuit of it. But in any event, whatever truth is, it is a linguistic thing. It's not a visual thing. To talk about a photograph being true or false is utterly meaningless. Words give you a picture of the world and visuals take you into the mystery of what is out there and whether language has captured it or not." -Filmmaker Errol Morris, Interviewed by Nubar Alexanian (October, 2002)

I found that great interview with Errol Morris at transom dot org, a remarkable web site devoted to helping people write better non-fiction radio. An hour later I did not want to stop exploring every available page of transom dot org. There are interviews with people who know what they're doing in this arena, and you may recognize a name or two. A written essay by Nancy Updike, on the subject of writing an effective opening for a radio story, was followed by a bulletin board Q&A to which Updike returned numerous times. Her followup was every bit as interesting as her essay. You could spend your bleary minutes at the screen a lot less rewardingly. I know *I* have.

From the BBC Patrol Boat in New Orleans, September 2005

If you don't think Americans are living in a bubble, think about why we didn't see stuff like this four-minute BBC video on US television networks. You'll need the Real Player plug-in and a swift connection; you'll likely want something to punch repeatedly while you watch it.

Can we get a new government soon?