Protagonist (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Theatrical Release: Nov 30, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Filmmaker Jessica Yu explores human obsession and extremism in this riveting and provocative documentary. Yu interviews four men with seemingly disparate backgrounds, and then mirrors their experiences to what happens in a Greek tragedy by Euripides, THE BACCHAE. One of the men is Mark... Filmmaker Jessica Yu explores human obsession and extremism in this riveting and provocative documentary. Yu interviews four men with seemingly disparate backgrounds, and then mirrors their experiences to what happens in a Greek tragedy by Euripides, THE BACCHAE. One of the men is Mark Pierpont, who tried to quash his homosexuality by becoming an evangelist and preaching about curing oneself of being gay. Pierpont travelled the world as a missionary and preached to audiences of thousands. Then there is Joe Loya, who as a child, was brutally abused by his father. When Loya came of age, he quickly funnelled his rage into robbing banks, until he was caught and sent to prison. Hans-Joachim Klein also suffered abuse at the hands of his father, after his mother--a Holocaust survivor--committed suicide. Klein went on to join a German terrorist organization, and was involved in the 1976 Entebbe hijacking and several arson attacks. Lastly there is Yu's own husband, Mark Salzman, who was constantly tormented and beaten by high school bullies. In order to gain back some control, he became obsessed with martial arts, and religiously attended the classes of an extremely off-kilter and sadistic karate instructor. While each man's story is vastly different, they each travel the same path, wherein they find that their extreme methods ultimately lead them straight into a new kind of madness and pain. Yu manages to deftly weave together the narrative by using short scenes featuring some very striking wooden puppets, which function as a Greek chorus to really bring home Yu's theme: that at the end of the day, it is ultimately character that makes the man. Yu won the Oscar in 1997 for her documentary short, BREATHING LESSONS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MARK O'BRIEN. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Screenwriter: Jessica Yu
Producer: Jessica Yu, Elise Pearlstein, Susan West
Composer: Jeff Beal
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 10, 2008
DVD Features:
- NTSC
- Region 0
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.78
Audio:
- Dolby Digital - English, German
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
[Jessica Yu] combines the interviews with such skill that themes begin to emerge, a tangled thicket of men seeking to define themselves through strength, discipline and self-transformation.
Truly artistic documentary about 4 men who led life at the edge and came back from the brink.
fascinating, troubling, and scathingly brilliant in both concept and execution
... far more thought-provoking and engrossing than the usual run of flatly journalistic docs.
At first, the technique seems gimmicky, but finally it's as compelling a perspective as any to understand how these men passed through agony to some sort of peace.
Yu's film may be challenging to synopsize, but it's thoroughly engrossing and wildly surprising.
Perhaps Yu's greatest achievement was finding four individuals with equal passion about and insight into their own journeys, and thereby demonstrating that all lives are fascinating when properly examined.
Stepped up in edginess from the Errol Morris template, Yu's Greek tragedy of modern extremists weaves four disturbing stories into a cautionary tale in step with the times
It's a particularly elegantly made film, with sharp lensing by cinematographers Russell Harper and Karl Hahn.
Suffers for the same reasons that a lot of 'issue' documentaries are problematic -- it is way too heavy-handed, only in style and concept rather than preachiness.
None of the talking heads is as interesting as [director] Yu thinks they are; and it's difficult to build sympathy for any of them.
While [director] Yu's experimental approach brings valuable insight to the human condition, the interviews themselves too rarely measure up to her ambitious structure.
...an audacious and remarkably assured documentary that weaves together four seemingly unrelated portraits of four contemporary men whose very different lives follow the course of Euripidean drama.
Protagonist is an enthralling documentary exploration of people with obsessive needs for control and self-mastery.
Proves so savvy at connecting the hidden dots between eclectic subjects that even the puppets seem human.
The film bears the mark of a real directorial talent, eager to push the documentary form in inventive directions, just like Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, and for that alone, it deserves a nod of appreciation.
A highly original and at times thrilling use of the documentary medium, and one of the most revealing films about the troubled nature of contemporary manhood I've ever seen.
Yu displays keen instincts for assembling disparate parts that viewers will be completely engrossed in the narratives of her subjects and just may wish to brush up on Bacchae.
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