Non-fiction: Strategic vs. Tactical storytelling

The Subject sez all: I loved the fulcrum point where the documentary maker makes his big decision to throw his grand scheme overboard and milk the footage for the comic effect. It really does beg a question: People sometimes subscribe to a romantic notion of the "great artist's" capacity to conceive and pull off a grand plan; a symphony or epic novel or whatnot. But what of that other less flattering characterization of the artistic process; as much about the process as about the conception, and not quite as neat and masterful as idealized?

Solondz is brutal, and this aspect of Storytelling showcases that yet again: When "Non-fiction's" filmmaker makes his decision, we can compare these two approaches; the "before" and "after" approaches. But there's something about him--something I think Solondz tries to capture--that suggests we can conclude it doesn't really matter: The filmmaker is (at this stage in his life, anyway) a fain, feeble artistic aspirant from the get-go. Whether he goes forward with his plan to produce a thought-provoking exploration of "youth adrift," or follows a comic verite muse to produce a laff-riot cavalcade of brash post-modern yuks, there's still something to, well, sort of loathe about him. That's the brutality of Solondz; and, let's face it, this is part of why we like him.

And, frankly, I think that's a good aspect of Solondz; he comes about as close as I can think to being a filmmaker who actually stands a chance of getting people to look at their own selves in a more probing way. I know I'm more likely to find in his films parts of my own character that need examination than in other products.

Solondz punches through; and this aspect of "Non-fiction"--this tactical artistic decision on the part of documentary maker--does this for me.

It's not about your methods, strategic or tactical or otherwise. It's about whether you have soul.