Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

source: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

As a sometimes reader of Vonneguts novels but not a die hard fan this documentary was very comprehensive in showing us with archive footage and visits to some of the key locations. The parts where Kurt's daughters, sone and nephews talk about their memories and experiences of the writer, the man and the relative are all very telling. The film maker does get a bit embedded in some of the story but for the most part it is in a kind of explanatory way that a fan does could have done with a bit of editing on some of that but he was the writer / director and producer so that is all OK. I will read a couple more of the novels that I missed. As a documentary this movie is well crafted and worth the time investment. I saw it at a film festival. I can see why it took so long to make and the friendship with the director is part of the story too but can see why some people might not like that so much.

A really well thought out documentary about one of the greatest literature figures ever, plus a film about friendship. A very touching and insightful film. One not just for Vonnegut super fans.

I finished this documentary on Kurt. It was an amazing and beautiful tribute. Thanks to Bob for sharing his friendship with us. It makes you want to return to your collection of Vonnegut books and read them again. It is also a great reminder of his impact on impressionable minds, to think outside the box, to laugh...often...and to never pass up a good joke. Tell a friend.

There are two schools of thought on this documentary - that took decades to complete by Weide. My school is that Weide inserted himself far too comfortably in it. What pushed me waaaaaaaaaaaaay over the edge was during the credits when there were two sets of photographs, one in black and white (Vonnegut family) on top and one in color (Weide family). That was so to invasive to me. Also, (this is an edit, btw) Weide inserting his family problems into the documentary to the degree he did was not at all professional, in my opinion. I am very sorry about his wife's illness, but I chose to watch a documentary about a beloved writer, not about Robert B. Wieder's family. Maybe he needs to do another documentary that's strictly about them. Given what he has achieved in his professional life, I would actually like to watch that. But this was supposed to be about Kurt Vonnegut Jr. This is a smart documentary about Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. And a lot of his story that any fan can enjoy. I am glad it finally got made, and wish Vonnegut could have seen it - he would have been pleased, I'd like to think. I learned a lot about the author I've admired all my life. And wish I'd learned a bit more about his later life sans Weide inserting himself as flagrantly as he did. I looked it up and there was a lot of Vonnegut's life missing. How sad we were deprived of that later portion of his life. To clarify - I think Weide's presence and voice is important in this documentary, but could and should have been cut back by at least 90%. It is NOT the Vonnegut and Weide Unstuck in Time documentary. Or is it? I do know I know far too much about the Weide family than I ever should at this point in time and from the program I chose to watch. So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut Unstuck in Time really took me back to my student days when I first picked up a copy of Slaughterhouse Five. I'd never read anything like it. Any film that does that is great and I want to thank Robert Weide for that. I laughed, I cried and I was moved. As I approach my late sixties it reminded me of better times, the value of friendship and when I had hope. So it goes.

When I booked to see Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time on the big screen at London's National Film Theatre, I was expecting to enjoy it. Vonnegut is my favourite author, and for my 50th birthday my partner got me a signed copy of Galapagos, my favourite Vonnegut novel. But what I wasn't expecting was how great the film would be in it's own right. It is of course a fascinating insight into one of the most witty and humane writers of the 20th century. And is beautifully shot and assembled, with plumes of smoke constantly rising from the photos of Vonnegut with his Pall Malls in had, bringing even the still images to life. But it is also a profundly moving film about human friendship. The documentary has been over 40 years in the making, ever since a young Robert Weide, fresh from making a documentary about the Marx Brothers, contacted his literary hero and asked if he could make a documentary about him. Vonnegut agreed, and over the years the two became friends, so much so that he becomes part of the story, much to his own chagrin. Much like Vonnegut would enter his own novels to interact with his characters. So much so, that finishing the film felt like having to let go of Kurt, who had died aged 83 in 2007. So much like the nature of much of Vonnegut's own work, we have two compelling stories, the definitive documentary about Kurt Vonnegut, and the film-within-a film about Weide's on attempts to finish the film about a man who had started out as a literary hero but had now become a close friend, celebrating his own triumphs as a director, and giving him wise advice in his personal life. Again like Vonnegut's own work, this complex technique is achieved without feeling forced, and is a pleasure to watch.

The story goes, Marcel Duchamp was once asked if he was worried that an art historian named Arturo Schwarz was writing a book about him. Duchamp replied he was not worried, because he knew the book would be about Arturo Schwarz, not about him. Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time is not about Kurt Vonnegut. It is a documentary about Robert Weide, a filmmaker who, preposterously, uses the special effect of smoke throughout, making it appear to come from still shots of Vonnegut and his effects, to remind spectators he was a cigarette smoker. The first and last half hours of the film are largely about Weide as the documentarian, and the hour in the middle features many shots in which Weide is the focus of the shot and Vonnegut on the edge of the field. Whatever happened to watching a documentary and then going to IMDb.com to find out something about the filmmaker who stayed behind the camera?

I felt compelled to sign back into IMDb after many, many years so I could write a review of this film from Robert Weide. I always read the user reviews on IMDb prior to watching anything, and was expecting to see a different film based on some of the negative reviews. I signed on to give much deserved credit to the filmmaker. For starters, I'd like to point out that I am not a diehard Vonnegut fan, and didn't know anything about his personal life whatsoever prior to watching this; my general knowledge of Vonnegut has been more or less a passive enjoyment of his novels. If you're preparing to watch a Ken Burns-style documentary, this is not what you're going to watch. Robert Weide makes this evident at the beginning; the almost 40 year project evolved into a significant friendship between Vonnegut and the filmmaker. The mutual respect, love and admiration between these two was crafted into a touching film. You will learn a lot about Vonnegut's life, but most importantly, and what I think is what made this so moving to watch, was Weide's unique ability to portray Vonnegut on a human level. There is a sincere and deeply moving balance of Vonnegut's life chronicles, personal and professional relationships, and unscripted moments which Weide sews into a chaotic, but beautiful quilt of Vonnegut's life. I can see how and why this film took so long to create; it would be difficult to whittle down Vonnegut's professional life alone to a two hour timeframe, nevertheless having to account for the almost life-long friendship the filmmaker had with him. I laughed, I cried, I learned, and I'm currently pulling out basement boxes of books to find my Vonnegut novels to reread again, but this time with a renewed sense of excitement for who he really was as a writer, father, son, friend, veteran, teacher - a human. I think this is about as much as a viewer could ask from a movie, no? Mr. Weide, thank you for bringing Vonnegut back to life!

The movie opens as if Vonnegut had written it: time-tripping, past, present, "future" tenses. It unfolds with awareness and self-consciousness of the process of making the documentary, and with living a deliberate existence. We watch as Vonnegut steers his direction, with the enthusiastic support of his wife Jane, from a life in the corporate world to evolving as a philosophical novelist. The fact that Vonnegut welcomed Director Robert B. Weide into his personal life strums on the heart strings of any human being who has been a follower, a fan, or a groupie of a beloved artist. Every moment of this film is emotional, poignant, and profoundly underscored by filmed statements, answering machine messages, and written text declarations made by Vonnegut himself. This documentary stands on its own as a well-considered and crafted oeuvre. The art of the film is created and observed in a linear-time fashion. The body of "Unstuck in Time" is focused on Vonnegut's writings, work, life, challenges, lectures, and lends visual exposures to his graphic illustrations. It is highlighted with interviews with family and friends, and footage from reels of 16 mm family films. Weide includes his own reflections on the documentary's process, his own personal life (and "distractions") during the long duration of making the movie, and on his close relationship with Vonnegut. I wasn't left feeling as if I had any more questions about Vonnegut's biography; I feel that Weide has covered all the factual information very neatly in a 2 hour 7 minute package. As the credits rolled, I was wiping away tears from missing Kurt more than ever, full of thanks for his influence on me.