A Bookshelf On Top Of The Sky

Starring:Joey Baron, Greg Cohen, Dave Douglas, Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, Mike Patton (II), Marc Ribot, John Zorn
Studio: TZADIK
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

What song is playing during the closing credits?
tediously self-indulgent...and not on the subject's part
Not what anyone wanted, and yet of it's own.
Pick up the pieces and move on...
another movie about the process of making a movie....yawn

A Bookshelf On Top Of The Sky
Starring: Joey Baron , Greg Cohen , Dave Douglas , Fred Frith , and Ikue Mori
Manufacturer: TZADIK
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | International | Styles | Music

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Masada Live at Tonic 1999
Ken Jacobs/John Zorn: Celestial Subway Lines/Salvaging Noise
Collected Works (The Complete Studio Recordings 1991-1994)
The Gift
IAO: Music In Sacred Light

ASIN: B0001CGMRW
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Customer Reviews:

What song is playing during the closing credits?.......2007-06-11

Zorn has interesting things to say in this film, and the music is great. But the whole film is pretty amateurish, and I mean that in the pejorative art-school project sense.

Can someone tell me what track is playing during the closing credits and during Chapter 6? Amazing... but I can't figure out what it is...

tediously self-indulgent...and not on the subject's part.......2006-09-29

I hesitate to call this film a documentary, for it seems to serve the mystique of John Zorn rather than circumvent it (or move through it) to examine the work of a man who has broke open a whole new way of composing music. Even more than serving the mystique (done through endless misses between the film maker and her subject matter and only brief glimpses of music being made), the film ultimately seems to serve the film maker to muse upon the process of creating films...but hardly in any way that provides insight.

There are interesting, brief glimpses into Zorn putting together a game piece performance, for example, but I came out of this feeling that I had been given some opportunity to glimpse some of the people behind the music, but no further understanding of the music or the artist behind the music than what I have devised through my own listening and through articles I've read talking about noise as well. Obviously, this film wants to examine the music more than the man, but I think it did it very poorly, with only brief peeks at Zorn's various styles and some interesting blurbs from Zorn himself, but more I felt that I just watched someone trying to make a documentary about Zorn and generally failed, so she decided to put herself in the movie to fill it out some.

A lost opportunity.

Not what anyone wanted, and yet of it's own........2005-08-09

Claudia Heuermann's "A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: Twelve Stories About John Zorn" is not quite what it seems. Expectations ran high, a documentary about John Zorn, the man who rarely grants interviews and when he does, seems to say everything and not say anything at all, whose music jumps genre to genre in a matter of seconds, captivates some, horrifies others, and has a strange sway over its fan.

What Heuermann did though was quite a bit different-- she told the story about her trying to make the movie, about her relationship with Zorn, from the moment she first discovered him (a friend playing her Naked City's "Torture Garden") to her meeting him for the first time, travelling to New York and deciding to make a movie about Zorn. It's really a piece abuot self-discovery, about learning to be one's "own parent".

Along the way, we get snippets of interviews with Zorn, brilliant statements, footage of rehearsals, recording sessions, remastering of "The Big Gundown" and live performances from Naked City, Painkiller, Masada, Bar Kokhba, Emergency, and "Rituals". We also get a brief explanation of game pieces and a picture of a frustrated artist who can't stop looking, who views music as problem solving, and who does it not for listeners, but for himself and the musicians.

This is the second time I've watched this-- the first time was when it first came out, and I was still in the process of discovering Zorn's work through a chance encounter at an independent movie theater (Naked City was the house music before the show, and somehow I knew who it was). Three months and a dozen or so Zorn CDs later and this came out to guide my way, to help put the pieces together.

A year after that and my Zorn collection is bordering on obscene and the piece still holds weight. It still is entertaining, and yeah, its not a lot of revelatory stuff, but it's a worthwhile viewing. Truth to be told, in many ways, the piece gave validity to my own view on my choice of career and my great passions. And I keep thinking that maybe when my coworkers ask why I'm making the four hour trip to New York City yet again to see some obscure musician who they've never heard of (and who if they did hear, they'd probably dislike), maybe in those situations I should let them borrow this and certainly Heuermann's experience isn't really that much different from mine. Isn't that powerful enough to merit a recommendation to someone else?

If you're just learning about Zorn, get this, it's critical. If you're already initiated, you probably already have it. It's got its flaw, but invariably, it's a deeply personal expression, how could it not? Either way, it's a fun film to watch. Recommended.

Pick up the pieces and move on..........2004-10-04

...I gotta say, I came into this one with high hopes. Zorn, one of the most relentlessly documented musicians of our time, really deserves a great documentary film: something to explore his methods, collaborations, and underlying philosophies. This ain't it. The film-maker insists on inserting herself and her own ho-hum Euro-art-student self-discovery tale into the mix, which adds nothing. What emerges is exceedingly frustrating: there's tons of great footage, and much insight from Mr. Zorn, yet these great moments are dangled like the proverbial carrot. Just when you think you're getting an extended performance or interview, it cuts to the film-maker deciding how best she should edit, or rattling off another numbingly bland tale of her "friendship" with Zorn. It's a tremendous shame, as she actually has years worth of interesting footage...ever wonder why the great documentarians prefer to manifest themselves in the editting and narrative of a documentary, rather than as a physical presence??? This tipid tome is the answer. I gave it two more stars than it deserves because Zorn is brilliant, and you catch fleeting glimpses of that genius behind the film-maker's amateurish construction...so, to all you folks who think you can make a good Zorn documentary, GO FOR IT. It definitely hasn't been done yet.

another movie about the process of making a movie....yawn.......2004-09-26

I have to agree with the reviewer from texas. How many more of these gimmicky "lets watch the director make the movie at the same time we watch it" movies do we really need? I will never understand why artists continue to think this makes their projects automatically fresh and interesting, 70+ years after modernism. it's more like a conceptual crutch. If the director were Chris Marker or Tarkovsky, maybe I'd be more interested in following her every rumination, but I'm sad to say the result here is just boring. Sorry if this is not "edgy" enough, but I'd really rather just see a bunch of Zorn clips.

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