I still can't figure out why there has been so little press about Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. Ok, so I haven't seen it yet and it may be the worst 90 minutes ever put down on film, but everything I've read and heard about it seems to indicate anything but it being bad. I do know that it received very little attention and extremely limited screenings in the United States, but I'm happy to be one of the few people to report that the DVD has been released in the States and you can grab your own copy right now. For those of you who don't know about this documentary, here's a brief description from the film's distributor:
Take a captivating and compelling road trip led by Jim White through the creative spirit of the American South, a world of churches, prisons, coalmines, truckstops, juke joints, swamps and mountains. Along the way you'll meet musicians including the Handsome Family, Johnny Dowd, 16 Horsepower, David Johansen, old time banjo player Lee Sexton, and novelist Harry Crews. This film is a collage of stories and testimonies filled with sudden death, sin and redemption... and all the while, a strange Southern Jesus looms in the background.
See also: BBC's official site for the documentary. Includes interviews with Jim White and director Andrew Douglas.
I caught it last year (I think) at the Balboa theater in San Francisco. It was good. How's that for an in-depth review? I stumbled into it on a whim, basically, ... only to find out that the next day Jim White was there for a Q&A after the screening.
Posted by: tito | March 15, 2006 at 08:24 PM
I just got it from Netflix yesterday! I watched a few snippets out of excitement to see the Handsome Family, and the scenes with them did not disappoint. It's bad to not watch it from beginning to end, i know, but we'll probably watch it this weekend. I can burn you a copy if you want and Alicia can give it to you at work tomorrow, just let me know.
Posted by: Justin | March 16, 2006 at 01:06 AM