It pains me to write anything less than a stellar review for any film promoting the works of Joseph Campbell but I need to be honest here in saying that I didn't think it was a very good way of introducing people to Joe's work.
Pros:
This film does go over many of Joe's basic teaching's mostly from "The Hero's Journey". Most importantly even if you have heard it all before it will likely make you think about some important things you have forgotten or lost sight of in your life, just seeing the film pulled my friend out of a depression phase he was in. It interviews an interesting range of people from philosophers to Tony Hawk.
The film is technically very well done, clean images and good sound with the small exception of a few edit points where we see peoples lips moving after they stop talking for a brief moment that only a quick eye would notice.
Cons:
The film has a feel similar to the distasteful works of "What the Bleep do We Know" and other self help style movies, although there is no pseudo science involved. The music score and over used shots of people smiling in slow motion make much of the movie feel like an advertisement. I didn't care for the use of children in costumes to portray some of the concept in the film, but it might make sense considering this is like a child's view of Joe's work.
Also it should probably be called "Losing Joe". After the very brief bio with some stills of Joe all we ever see is his quotes. Not one clip of him speaking or any in depth look at his heroes Journey. I know that the director wanted to make it a story about how he found Joe but that doesn't come through in the movie either.
Overall:
The movie has a good message and if you want to see Joe's work spread to more people than you should support this effort. I would however think that showing the Bill Moyer's interviews to the Joe uninitiated would be a better start.
Pros:
This film does go over many of Joe's basic teaching's mostly from "The Hero's Journey". Most importantly even if you have heard it all before it will likely make you think about some important things you have forgotten or lost sight of in your life, just seeing the film pulled my friend out of a depression phase he was in. It interviews an interesting range of people from philosophers to Tony Hawk.
The film is technically very well done, clean images and good sound with the small exception of a few edit points where we see peoples lips moving after they stop talking for a brief moment that only a quick eye would notice.
Cons:
The film has a feel similar to the distasteful works of "What the Bleep do We Know" and other self help style movies, although there is no pseudo science involved. The music score and over used shots of people smiling in slow motion make much of the movie feel like an advertisement. I didn't care for the use of children in costumes to portray some of the concept in the film, but it might make sense considering this is like a child's view of Joe's work.
Also it should probably be called "Losing Joe". After the very brief bio with some stills of Joe all we ever see is his quotes. Not one clip of him speaking or any in depth look at his heroes Journey. I know that the director wanted to make it a story about how he found Joe but that doesn't come through in the movie either.
Overall:
The movie has a good message and if you want to see Joe's work spread to more people than you should support this effort. I would however think that showing the Bill Moyer's interviews to the Joe uninitiated would be a better start.