NZIFF Film Review: "Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time" (2021).

"The story of a lifetime, or two. A film and a friendship forty years in the making". This is Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. This documentary film directed by Robert B. Weide and Don Argott. The film is a dazzling, worthy tribute to Vonnegut and a compelling introduction for the uninitiated. The film - the first of its kind on Vonnegut - is a deep, immersive dive into the author’s upbringing and his creative output. It spans his childhood in Indianapolis, his experience as a Prisoner of War in World War II, his marriage, family, and divorce, his early careers as a publicist for General Electric and a car salesman, and his long years as a struggling writer, leading to eventual superstardom in 1969 following the publication of his lightning-bolt anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five. The film began thirty-nine years ago when young, fledging filmmaker Robert Weide wrote a letter to his literary idol proposing a documentary on Vonnegut’s life and work. Shooting began in 1988, and the resulting film reflects the friendship and bond Weide and Vonnegut formed over the decades. In the film, past, present, and future cease to become linear as Weide strives to get an overview of his subject’s life and his own role in it. The film is first and foremost a biography of a beloved American author. But it also documents a filmmaker’s odyssey as he examines the impact of a writer’s legacy on his own life, extending far beyond the printed page.

The American writer, known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels, Kurt Vonnegut, was born on November 11, 1922. In a career spanning over fifty years, he published fourteen novels (most notably his semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)), three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works; further collections have been published after his death on April 11, 2007. The aforementioned novel follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years, with Billy occasionally traveling through time.

The literacy cognoscenti, who are aware of Vonnegut's life and works, should still find much to appreciate in the documentary. The film doesn't cover every topic or feature every interviewee fans might want, but the film offers a satisfying, in-depth look at the life and legacy of Vonnegut. Vonnegut's life as a struggling writer, the reverberations of his career failure on his family, and the film's adroit, lively way of guiding us through the potentially dull subject of writers and their writings all combine to give the film a lot of juicy oomph. This isn't a great documentary, but Weide and Argott deserves applause and respect for getting their message and documentation of Vonnegut. Weide and Argott seems to push the film towards sharing the spotlight between Weide and Vonnegut; in so doing, he shows viewers exactly what the role of a good ally is.

Simon says Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time receives:

Also, see my reviews for Believer and Crimes of the Future.