http://www.fivethousand.com.au/watch/im-still-here-4/What:
I'm Still HereWhen:
Screening at Palace Nova now
Watch the trailer:
Here
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Thanks to Palace Nova, we have 5 dbls to give away! To enter, email win@fivethousand.com.au with the subject 'I'm a mountaintop waterdrop'Related links:
Joaquin Phoenix acts like a mountaintop waterdrop on Letterman
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I'm Still Here was at first thought (optimistically perhaps) a genuine document of a celebrity's psychic implosion, with none of the prurient details spared. But, it turned out be an elaborate hoax, a peformance piece revealing the shallowness of celebrity, exposing us for the slavering, facile husks that we are, desperate to tear down those we crown.
As satire it seems pretty insipid - because of the sheer likelihood and oddly prosaic nature of Phoenix's fall from grace. A celebrity gets fat, does blow, makes ill-informed career choices and generally acts like a narcissistic, self-destructive twat? Seen it. Perhaps not with the wangs and all detail of I'm Still Here, but that detail doesn't make this film a successful critique. Nor do pensive shots of Phoenix wading through a river make it touching.
But it is funny. A showpiece for a character. A shambling, hubristic parody with celebrities and assistants as unwitting (okay probably sometimes witting) foils for his mumbling stupidity. Viewed this way, Phoenix's infamous appearance on Letterman plays out as a glorious, Kaufmanesque peformance. I guess what I'm saying is that it's probably best to relax, forget about the film being documentary or not and enjoy the comedic aspects of an academy award nominee being defecated on. I suspect we will see Phoenix on film again, I just wouldn't call it a comeback when we do.
By Kane Daniel
Format: Cinema
Genre: Documentary
Keywords: I'm Still Here, Palace Nova, Joaquin Phoenix
Australian Competitions Club
