Distance: 4 miles
HEAVEN ADORES YOU
Ciwt just watched her last International Film Festival movie which was decidedly American. A documentary on the late indy singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. At the outset of the movie Ciwt learned what most in the audience probably knew: that Smith died in 2003 at 34 troubled, drug addicted and under shocking and still inconclusive circumstances. She didn't know Smith's music - although she must have watched him sing his Oscar nominated at the Oscars because Ciwt is always 'there.' Did she know him or more details about his death after the film? No; those actually weren't the points of the film as it turned out.
But she does now know he had a small group of friends and one sister who loved him, young fans starting in Portland, Oregon and later throughout the world who adored him, a documentary producer/director/scriptwriter/cinematographer (Nickolas Rossi) who considers him a timeless poetic-songwriting genius and hopes his viewers will come to feel the same about Smith.
On-stage footage, poignant interviews, and (from the write up) rain-streaked images of vacant landscapes, emphasizing Smith’s emotionally resonant presence through a visual motif of corporeal absence. What remains is gorgeous music, at the forefront of this equally lovely film. –Steven Jenkins
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