I really liked Zappa, Alex Winter’s new documentary on Frank Zappa. I only casually knew some things about him, and just knew a couple of songs by him, so this was a really thorough and interesting film tracing his life as an offbeat musician leader who felt like a mix of contrasts, like an eccentric weirdo onstage who was firmly against drugs, hated hippie culture, and led a tight and focused band of veteran sidemen.
Of course, one of the things that bugged me was that he openly cheated on his wife with groupies, who was aware of it and not happy but had to put up with it. He uses being a touring rock star as an excuse, but it felt more like a side effect of the 1960s “free love” culture being more beneficial to men than women.
I really loved the part about a stop motion animator who created early music videos for Zappa and is incredibly talented in matching Zappa’s experimental music with odd claymation figures, that looked like a fantastic mix of artist collaboration. It started out after Zappa was attacked onstage and was injured, and the videos replaced the live performances for awhile and just stuck around as part of his image.
Towards the end, I loved seeing the evolution of his conducting skills, how he went from being the leader of his 1960s jazz rock fusion band at the height of the tune in, drop out era to his last concerts leading orchestras in a mix of jazz, classical, and experimental music in formal circles. It showed a lot of his range and ability to grow as an artist and with life changes and all. I appreciated this film, and seeing the tons of archival footage that Winter’s team organized for the film.
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