Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThomas Pynchon A Journey into the Mind of <p.> (2001)
Director: Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
'Things are not as they seem.' In US writer Thomas Pynchon's case, this is a mantra, the cornerstone of a life and labyrinthine oeuvre freighted with ceasless speculation. In books like V and Gravity's Rainbow, the covert arenas of the contemporary order (the military industrial complex, governmental conspiracy, the sinister reaches of science) mesh with counter-cultural values, permeating paranoia, arcane knowledge systems and ironic humour in an encyclopedic investigation of modernity. Central to this is a (doomed) quest for some singular explanation of things, a motif taken up by this intriguing documentary. It's a tall order. Pynchon is one of the great cultural recluses, unphotographed for 40 years, his absence from the flashgun flare now an inseparable part of his 'project'. So the Dubinis' film offers an atmospheric collage, chaptered around varying recollections and Pynchon's synchronicity with resonant aspects of post-war US society. Newsreels and found footage of missile experiments and Agency psychedelics tests mix with talking heads, spoken extracts and Pynchon's articulate fans. Required viewing for devotees.Author: GE
Cast & crew
Director: Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini
Cast: Richard Lane, George Plimpton, Jules Siegel, Chrissie Wexler, Richard Roland, Irwin Corey, Tim Ware, Steve Tomaske, Allen Rush, James Bone, John Levine, Melvin Boukhiet full cast
Genre(s): Documentaries
Duration: 96 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now