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Stars:
William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Jack Womack, Bono, and The Edge
Director:
Mark Neale
Executive
Producers: Chris Paine, Mark Pellington, Tom Gorai, and Mary Buffet
Feature
length: 88 minutes
Extras:
Deleted Scenes, Selected Readings By William Gibson and Jack Womack, Q & A
With Director
Languages:
English Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
N/A
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 26
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2003
Home
Video Distributor: Docurama
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
“I think of religions as
franchise operations. Sort of like chicken franchises, but that doesn’t mean
there’s no chicken…”
William Gibson
In
1999 Hugo Award winning Writer William Gibson stepped into a limousine with
Documentary Filmmaker Mark Neale and set off on a road trip across America
discussing his philosophies on his own life. The documentary was shot on video
and for the entire feature we watch Gibson talk and philosophize with the
occasional cut to one of his colleagues like Bruce Sterling and Jeff Womack
discussing Gibson and his work as well as Rock Stars and Gibson fans Bono and
The Edge commenting on “Neuromancer” as being the equivalent to “Rock
& Roll” literature or something like that. At times Bono and The Edge read
selections from Gibson’s work while The Edge with “Tomandandy” contribute
music inspired by Gibson’s fiction throughout the documentary. In a nutshell
that is the whole movie and to some extent I think it could be called
pretentious, but surprisingly never dull because Gibson is as much a born talker
as much as he is a storyteller and prideful reader.
Gibson
makes a lot of interesting observations about our society and at times sprinkles
an anecdote or two like when he mentions how the Internet started out as a
request to universities by the government to create a method of quick
communication that could be used in the event of a nuclear holocaust. He then
goes on to state that he thinks had the government had any idea of what the
World Wide Web would become he thinks they would have never asked for it to be
created because it is in his mind the cause of the extinction of the nation
state. Another amusing anecdote is how he traced the origins of pornography back
to the days of the civil war. He surmises that our media driven society from
photography through home video and so on has been paved or pioneered into the
mainstream in a sense by pornography. He refers to adult pay per view websites
as being the creators of e-commerce and amusingly enough I think he has got a
point.
However
Gibson is not a Writer obsessed with sex and I do not want anyone reading this
to think that because that is just a few minutes out of more than an hour of
recorded conversation. If anything I’d say he might be obsessed with the
nature of perception. As I watched the documentary I scribbled down phrases and
points to refer to later so that one can get a flavor for what he talks about.
He begins the discussion with a very fascinating soliloquy of sorts on
nanotechnology and how that technology could alter human lives to a point where
we are nothing but protein molecules to be manipulated and he theorizes such
fantasy ideas like living forever or alchemy as being possible through
nanotechnology. He then refers to the entire world we have created as being an
extension of the nervous system and I think he is right when he states that the
“non-mediated” world is dead and no one would ever want to return to it
because of the mortality rate it would cost us as a species alone.
He also discusses how the events of the 1990s has upped the anti on what is considered the truth being stranger than fiction using examples like the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City and the marriage between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. I wonder what he has to say now regarding Mr. Jackson and the tragedy of September 11, 2001 here in New York City? He acknowledges William Burroughs as an inspiration, briefly discusses his time in Canada during the Vietnam War, and the idea of being in the moment and not dwelling on the past or possibilities of the future as being true happiness that is harder to sustain and more complicated to consciously aspire to. Joseph Campbell would describe this as being a “sublime” moment. I think practitioners of Kundalini Maha Yoga or some other form of meditation should be able to grasp at what he’s getting at pretty clearly when he recounts in just a few words that is more complicated than one might perceive to consciously live in the moment. He closes the discussion stating the Internet is an expression of what it is to be human today.
Extra features include five reading from “All Tomorrow’s Parties” with chapters 1, 5, 8, and 68 read by Gibson while Jack Womack reads from the fourth chapter in the book. The audio selections are labeled as “Cardboard City,” “Formal Absences Of Precious Things,” “Mariachi State,” “The Hole,” and “The Absolute At Large.” Under the heading “Fragments” are deleted scenes labeled as “Neuromancer” (6:33), which he describes as being like a three cord garage band novel, “Objects” (2:33), which goes into detail about his own penchant for description in his writing, a reading entitled “The Gernsback Convention” that was actually him writing about a rejection that was subsequently published as if it were a short story (10:14), and he randomly philosophizes about “Crack” (5:12), “Bohemia” (2:55), “The Past” (7:34), “The Future” (: 50), and “Clocks” (1:39).
Under the “Origins” section are literally who, what, when, where, how, and why questions asked by Documentary Filmmaker Mark Pellington and “Tomandandy” Musician Andy Melburn to Director Mark Neale about the making of the documentary. The clips run between nearly 3 ½ minutes to just over 9 minutes. The picture quality is somewhat grainy given the video stock used while the English Stereo Soundtrack is clear and quite vibrant with “Tomandandy” providing the score throughout. The documentary, deleted scenes, and clips with the Director are all presented in a letterboxed (1.85:1) aspect ratio. The interactive menus are easy to navigate.
Gibson fans should find this documentary interesting. I find myself viewing and listening to clips again on the DVD and catching more material I did not necessarily take to the first time. “William Gibson: No Maps For These Territories” is available at retailers on and offline now from Docurama and can also be ordered directly online at www.nomaps.com.
© Copyright 2003 By Mark A.
Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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