Magic Trip

Time Out says
This documentary from Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood (Ellwood was editor on Gibney’s solo films such as ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room’) reconstructs that trip, with some topping and tailing for context. The Pranksters shot ample 16mm film that was never edited; Gibney and Ellwood pick up where they left off, making a collage of their footage and adding later interviews – plus readings by actors of interviews – to the soundtrack, and inventing a interviewer-narrator character voiced by Stanley Tucci. There are problems: the filmmakers make little attempt to argue any cultural or historical case for their subjects and there are too many folk on the bus to get close to anyone, even Kesey. But they make the wise decision to show no footage of anybody in later years – bar a few shots of Kesey, who died in 2001 – which helps us to dive headfirst into both the journey and period and decide for ourselves whether to take it or leave it.
Release Details
- Rated:15
- Release date:Friday 18 November 2011
- Duration:107 mins
Cast and crew
- Director:Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney
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