Absolute Wilson is a documentary about… well, Robert Wilson, one of America’s foremost performance-art playwrights. I’ll bet that still doesn’t ring a bell. Relatively few people in the U.S. have ever even heard of him. So here we get to learn about Wilson’s seven-day play, his 24-hour play, his seven-hour plays. And we see excerpts from some of his more reasonably timed plays. At one time he was commissioned to write a play for the Olympic games in LA in 1984. The play—Civil Wars—was one of his most famous, but the Olympic committee got cold feet and held up the funding.

I’ll discuss more about this documentary’s view of Wilson and his work later. But it does a lot of other things, too. First of all, it is extremely well-scored. The music is captivating and amazingly appropriate throughout the entire film. Lively and positive, the score adds life.

I honestly cannot think of a documentary I have seen in which the musical score might be considered collectible. But this is one. Miriam Cutler’s music is my favorite part. I hope the soundtrack will be released on CD. The film’s subject matter is certainly interesting, but the music gives the learning process an enjoyable cogency which left me completely spellbound.

Second, I have screened a great number of new documentaries over the last few months, and I see a very welcome trend in the genre: more believability. This reviewer holds the opinion that a documentary does no real good if it doesn’t portray truth—if the film is not based on findings, rather than pinings. Agenda-driven filmmakers whose documentaries support those agendas—especially when the facts don’t support the theory—damage the subject matter, remove the objectivity that every topic deserves, and do a disservice to the public. As they pursue their own chimeras, they become guilty of the same type of manipulation that they are often trying to expose. But Absolute Wilson is simply the result of a study of the man. A revelation. German filmmaker Katharina Otto-Bernstein does a masterful job of introducing the uninitiated—like me—to this tower of a man.

I had never heard of Robert Wilson before. Of course, I am not alone so I don’t feel too bad about that. Hopefully, this under-appreciated genius will soon get his due and avoid Orson Welles’ lament, “Oh, how they will praise me when I am gone.” Like Welles before him, Wilson’s theatre is hugely popular in Europe. But Wilson is an exceptional and unique person, presented in an entertaining, or rather engaging, way. I was especially gratified by Wilson’s apparent lack of animosity toward his past. His life has been difficult. He was misunderstood, gay, had a learning disability, and his muses were on overdrive.

Robert Wilson is amazing in another respect. Oscar Levant said, “There is a thin line between genius and insanity.” With Levant, Wilson might well insist, “I have erased this line.” His admitted mental disabilities make him a genius in art and life: in life, because as a victim of a learning disability, he empathizes with those who are marginalized in society; in art because he is not bound by any “code of conduct” or “historical theatrical pedagogy.” So he is enigmatic to those both in and outside of the art community. As to those both in and outside of sanity.

I particularly came to admire him for the good he has done for two young men he has adopted. Both were considered “brain damaged” through either autism or other diagnosed maladies. Wilson has taken these boys in. He says, “They aren’t damaged, they just communicate differently.” This is a profound realization. And there is no argument against success. He has been able to tap into their minds and bring them out to the point where they are now productive members of society.

On the stage, Wilson also broke boundaries. His seven-day play that almost killed several of the actors is a good example. Theatre art strives to be different and the genre itself is edgy. But Wilson has tapped into the emotions of his audience like no other. The play was the result of his musing, “What if you could just wander into the theatre and watch the lives of the actors at any time of day?” Probably not an unusual thought for many. But, he actually staged a play based on the idea, and it was a success!

Wilson’s primary brand, though, is his use of lighting and movement. His lack of training in classical theatre actually serves him well. His productions are always out-of-the-box yet still invariably recognizable.

Absolute Wilson is an excellent example of a documentary. It’s one for the books, and should be considered a model of the artform. Otto-Bernstein has taken great care to match music to the mood and pace of the piece. Archival interviews and current statements soundly support Wilson’s genius, in addition to adding to his enigmatic stature. He decidedly thinks differently from the rest of us. Thank God.

Absolute Wilson is not rated. I would put the content at PG, but for the good of the film would bump that up to PG-13 so adults would consider seeing it. The film demonstrates what someone unconstrained by self-consiousness can do if allowed freedom. Morally, society needs checks and balances, of course, but this man is delightful in his public demeanor. I found him enthralling, and the documentary much too short.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Mike attended a press screening of Absolute Wilson. Please also see Mike’s interview with Otto-Bernstein.