Director: Mary Ann Braubach
Writers: Mary Ann Braubach and Philip Andrew Morton
Cast: Peter Coyote, Walter Cronkite, Ram Dass, John Densmore, Aldous Huxley
Studio: Cinedigm
HOW I WATCHED IT
Docurama, a direct-to-consumer digital channel featuring over 1,000 award winning and critically acclaimed documentaries from the Cinedigm library, recently launched in May.
Just in time for summer vacation, Docurama is currently featuring a package of themed documentaries – including two exclusives to the channel – A Deeper Shade of Blue, a film about surfing’s deepest roots, and Beyond 360, a film about two friends who quit their job to sail around the world!
You can check out Docurama for free on connected TVs (Samsung, Sony, RCA, Humax), set top boxes (Amazon Fire, Roku, Tivo Roamio, Western Digital TV), tablets (Samsung) and gaming consoles (Xbox).
THE MOVIE ITSELF
“Huxley on Huxley” is a documentary build around talking heads, archival interviews and Huxley’s second wife. The lovely lady is now in her 90s, but her mind remains sharp. However, I can’t tell what narrative they’re trying to frame, as we keep glossing over big parts of what makes Huxley a legend. What makes it worse is that outside of the basic bio info, we only get a decade worth of information about the man at the end of his life. He was really into the Tibetan Book of the Dead? Ok, what else?
Aldous Huxley remains one of those scene figures for those of us that like to blend science and the fortean into something that doesn’t have a name. However, he keeps getting lumped into the head crowd due to his LSD work. I wanted more attention paid to his time in Hollywood, as he tried to make that troubling jump from text to screen. But, I guess you would’ve had to cut out a Nick Nolte documentary for that to happen.
I appreciate what Laura Archera has to offer in this documentary. But, we’re relying on the memories of a 90 year old woman to frame one of the greatest minds of the first half of the 20th Century. Some of the interviews help to fill in the gaps, but they feel too glowing. Most of my documentary issues start to appear towards the end, but I’ll save that checklist for another time. While this shouldn’t be your go-to Huxley documentary, it’s an interesting watch.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
