In response to Kurt’s post about the death of VHS I had to draw attention to a great film that has still not yet made the leap to dvd.
So a politician, a poet and a scientist walk into Mont Saint Michel… Sounds like the beginning of a lame joke but in fact it is the beginning of a very engaging philosophical musing on life. In the spirit of films like A Dinner with Andre, Waking Life, and Before Sunrise/Sunset, Mindwalk is a film that consists of one uninterrupted conversation that foregoes the traditional concerns of plot altogether. Fritjof Capra’s scientific writings become the source material for the bulk of the dialogue, taking elements of his classic ‘Tao of Physics’ and rendering into life a conversation where holistic thinking takes on the inherent fallacies of Cartesian positivism. The film is tiltilating soft porn for passionate thinkers as the tagline suggests. The genius of the work is how it brings down to earth concepts of science which may be intimidating for the uninitiated and using the three perspectives of art, politics, and science to give a wide survey of opinions on the issues discussed.
The film inspired me to read Capra’s book which has some of the most lucid writing on the subject of physics that I have ever encountered. At the time it was only available on videocassette, which was still in the last vestiges of popularity, when dvds were considered a luxury. We are now in 2008 and still this film is not on dvd. So I want to voice my opinion on the matter, to Criterion Collection maybe, or to anyone: please release ‘Mindwalk’ on dvd, it definitely has a market among intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals. I can attest to its popularity as I work in a public library and I have had several patrons ask for a dvd version of the film.
Even if you are not a fan of thinking, the film provides a secondary use as a sort of Rick Steve’s glimpse of one of the most beautiful places on earth, which I was inspired to visit a couple years back. There are even tours going to Mont Saint Michel based on the film.
At the very least it should be made available for Liv Ullmann completists.
Liv Ullmann is the actress, so I would see this film.
I’ve been waiting for this film to come out on DVD for years. It is a fascinating journey, a brilliant conversation, a gorgeous treat for the eyes as well as the mind. With all the crap that *does* make it to disk, you’d think someone would take a chance and get this one out into the marketplace.
Another recommendation for those who appreciate MY (not A) DINNER WITH ANDRE, WAKING LIFE, etc. — check out Peter Brook’s 1979 MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN, based on the autobiography of mystic G.I. Gurdjieff. The film *has* been released on both VHS and DVD, although it’s hard to find. Copies occasionally show up on eBay, and it’s definitely worth looking for. Slow in some spots, melodramatic in others, but, like MINDWALK, fascinating, brilliant and gorgeous….
I only came across Mindwalk because it was being shown in a class at BU that a friend of mine took and she recommended it, so I mean it has some kind of weight to it, its even being shown in universities, I find it ridiculous that Run Fatboy Run is on bloody blu-ray and Mindwalk is nowhere.
I am always on the lookout for these talky films, never heard of Meetings with Remarkable Men, will check it out. Another one that Andrew keeps praising on the site is Man from Earth.
Thanks Josh