Experimental film legend Jonas Mekas's diaristic, shaggy-dog doc is a boho odyssey of the mind---an eccentric video essay loosely inspired by the Middle Eastern folktale collection 1001 Nights, and even more loosely conceived. Under the influence of insomnia and red wine, the 88-year-old Mekas meanders, muses and trains his inquisitive camera on everything from obliging friends (Ken Jacobs, Marina Abramovic, Patti Smith) to errant lizards, possums and postcards. Underlying the artist's scattershot narrative and amateurish, out-of-focus aesthetic is an unflagging faith in the arrived-upon moment, the poetry of spontaneity. The movie indulges a few too many whims, but it's never less than alive.
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