Molly Bernstein's AN ART THAT NATURE MAKES: THE WORK OF ROSAMOND PURCELL

Unclassifiable -- into a single category, at least. That would be Rosamond Purcell, who is, in the words of author Jonathan Safran Foer, an artist, scholar, documentarian and living cabinet of wonder. "Her originality defies category..."  Ms Purcell is yet another of the subjects of these wonderful documentaries -- that seem to debut almost monthly at New York City's Film Forum -- that TrustMovies knew nothing of prior to seeing and thoroughly enjoying the full-length but relatively short movie made about Purcell and her work by Molly Bernstein (who back in 2013 gave us the magical doc on Ricky Jay, Deceptive Practice).

Ms Bernstein, shown at left, has both directed and edited this 75-minute movie, and she's packed it full of oddball wonders and bizarre creations that come from the singular Ms Purcell, whom we meet and view in both current times, below, and way-back-when, shown at bottom. (We also meet her husband of many years, who seems a near-perfect helpmeet.)

A highly intelligent woman who is particularly good at expressing herself (much of what we hear her say here, I believe, has been taken directly from her writings), Purcell tells us right up front regarding her art: "I've stuck with containment, and yet I'm always trying to pick the lock."

Soon we hear from a whole raft of people from Errol Morris to Mr. Jay, as well as museum curators and the like -- each of whom resides at the pinnacle of his or her industry -- and what they have to say about the artist and her work is every bit as intelligent and fascinating as the woman herself.

Just as documentarian Nikolaus Geyrhalter finds immense beauty in desolation in his new documentary Homo Sapiens, Purcell finds hers in weirdness, sickness, death and the discarded. and yet her work does not seem ugly or sleazy. Instead it just seems mysterious. As Mr. Morris says about it: "Her work preserves the mystery of the object."

That work involves photography (in which she uses natural light only), collage, natural history, and lots more, eventually taking us into the realm of Shakespeare! The movie begins in the junkyard of a friend and supplier, whom she calls Bucky, and it finally ends there, too, even as Purcell tells us of Bucky's death and shows us the destruction of the building, the contents of which have been such a source of inspiration.

I would suggest that one viewing is probably not enough to get full measure out of this short documentary. Purcell's work is so strange, encompassing, rich and often, somehow, just out of reach. You have to keep looking. And thinking. And making connections.

From BOND/360, An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell opens this Wednesday, August 10, for only a one-week run at New York City's Film Forum. Also on this program will be an eight-minute short directed by Lisa Crafts, called Season of Wonder.

Bernstein/Edelstein DECEPTIVE PRACTICE: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay

It's magic! At least it sure looks likes it. Sounds like it, too. And while "sound" per se has never been something that we imagined magic took in, the new documentary about the famous magician/raconteur/
actor Ricky Jay features Mr. Jay at his mellifluous, mysterious best -- which should give you some idea of why classy movie-makers from David Mamet to Paul Thomas Anderson to Gus Van Sant have used him in their films. (And not primarily as a prestidigitator.) Mr. Jay, a smart performer and actor, possesses an odd but very effective charisma, which filmmakers Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein put to excellent use in their new documentary DECEPTIVE PRACTICE: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.

Unlike information provided in the pseudo-documentary TrustMovies covered a couple of days ago, This Ain't California, Mr Jay, shown at left, immediately allows that he and other magicians belong to an "ongoing continuum of sleight-of-hand." This does not mean, however, that we get even a hint of how any of this "sleight" is managed. We get a glance or two at the character and history of young Ricky Potash (which was Jay's original family name) and at his parents. But mostly the movie concerns, as its title tells us, his mentors. (His mysteries remain just that.)

In addition to a few of whom only the most magician-enthralled of us may have heard -- Slydini (love that moniker!), Al Flosso (who sounds a bit like the animated character who shows you how to properly clean your teeth) and Cardini (whom Jay notes had "the best act I ever saw"), Jay's primary two mentors were Charlie Miller (an absolute loner, whom, appropriately enough, we learn little of) and Dai Vernon, another mysterious but actor-level handsome fellow of whom we see quite a lot.

Still, it's mostly Mr. Jay whom we see, hear and watch with increasing fascination -- from his childhood "magic" to his early appearances on the Dinah Shore TV show (first with a very young and beautiful Elizabeth Ashley, and later sucking Steve Martin into a Three-Card-Monte bet). Most interesting of all, I think, is that, so far as the "magic" goes, we really hear more about it than we actually see. And that's just fine because -- in addition to this magician's terrific vocal power that brings to life his every word -- since this is a film rather than a live stage performance, "visual reality" is already compromised on one level. Also, the stories Jay tells us are so funny and amazing and bizarre that they manage to bloom beautifully in our imagination. As we listen, they come to life. (Wait till you hear about the hypnotized chicken!)

Filmmakers Bernstein and Edelstein (that's Molly on the left, below, and Alan on the right) have been awfully smart regarding the manner in which they've put this film together. Their use of archival footage is fine as far as it goes (there isn't all that much in the movie, but there's enough to take us back in time when necessary).

More than anything, I think, the success of the film rests on the way in which the filmmakers make the many  "stories" we hear come to such vital life via Mr. Jay and the occasional pungent interview. The best of these is with a reporter named Suzie of The Manchester Guardian who is taken out to lunch by Mr. Jay after a rather grueling day of work, from which Jay seems somewhat exhausted. While at lunch, Jay pulls the rabbit out of the hat, so to speak, with a piece of prestidigitation so fine and eye-popping that as Suzie recalls it -- we simply see her face and hear her voice -- she is so full of amazement and emotion that we live the whole experience ourselves, right there in our theater seat. This may be movie-making about magic once-removed, but by god, it works! I am not certain seeing the actual trick would have impressed me any more than hearing and seeing this woman tell us of it.

We don't learn much that's very personal here; like Charlie Miller, Mr. Jay, too, seems a loner in the extreme. By film's end we at least discover that Ricky has a significant other, for which we're grateful. The movie closes with a poem Jay recites by Shel Silverstein. And once again, using those words coming from his special voice, we, the audience, create all the images in our own mind.

If, as Jay has earlier told us, the best prestidigitation is about how the eye is directed elsewhere than the place where the trick is actually being done (we see a fine and funny example of this during the doc), then Ricky is clearly the master of misdirection. But so are Ms Bernstein and Mr. Edelstein -- by giving us a lovely motion picture about visual magic in which sound and storytelling beat all.

Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay -- from Kino Lorber and running 88 minutes -- opens a two-week run this Wednesday, April 17, in New York City at Film Forum. Over the months of May and June, it will expand into another dozen cities and theaters. Click here (then scroll down) to see all currently scheduled playdates.

Personal Appearances: The New Yorker’s Mark Singer

(a Ricky Jay profiler) will appear at Film Forum, 

along with filmmakers Molly Bernstein and 

Alan Edelstein, in person, on Sat., April 27 at 8:10pm.