SYNOPSIS: Long before YouTube, there were the brilliantly insane, no-budget movies of underground, filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar. Creating stars out of their friends and family with just consumer-grade cameras, the teenage Kuchar brothers went from the 1960′s New York City underground film scene of Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger to become the twin maestros of B-movie glamour and sleaze.
In a mesmerizing stream-of-consciousness style, IT CAME FROM KUCHAR effortlessly interweaves nostalgic footage of 1950′s New York, a “greatest hits” collection of Kuchar clips and present day interviews of an all-star lineup of fans including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Wayne Wang, Bill Griffith, Gerard Malanga, B. Ruby Rich and Guy Maddin. Both outrageous and lovable, George and Mike will inspire you to pick up a camera and start making movies. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR is a must see for lovers of film everywhere.
There is an old saying in the writing industry, “The best way to learn how to write is to just write.” Well, while not necessarily true in its entirety, the general sentiment is right. No matter what type of skill your want to build, one of the elements to achieving success is to start doing it, keep doing it, and then do it some more. Remember, amatures practice to get it right, but professionals practice so they never do it wrong. The Kuchars bar none, is a principle example of just how true this philosophy is.
Together, their productivity was unbelievable. While no official accounting of their total body of work has been made, it is believe to include more than 500 films. During their day, while other filmmakers made more formal and structural films that had very little happening, while Andy Warhol was making films where nothing was happening, the Kuchars made films were everything happened.
As Underground Filmmakers, they remained true to the cause through their entire career. As bohemians, they spent their time and money exploring the poetic aspects of filmmaking. Most of their work was atmospheric and highly stylized (distinctive eyebrows and highly modulated voices). Their collective philosophy that “adults are weird” transcended the conventional films of the day and impacted the tone and tenor of their work.
This is a great documentary for those looking to jump start their creativity, for those looking for somebody to lead the way in just doing it for the sake of doing it, and for those looking to be less weird. For ten bucks, grab some wine, turn the lights down, and see what is possible when you remove all the reasons why you say “I can’t.”
Make sure to check out Live The Dream Films for other documentaries and Social Filmmaking actvities.
