Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid ***
A Documentary Film by Jennifer Venditti
84 Minutes(Not Rated)
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"Billy the Kid" is a very entertaining documentary-it's the kind of documentary that I always tend to go and see. It is not about a political issue, or a conflict of interest between nations, or even a complex story. It is a story about real people doing real things-which always ends up being more interesting than you would imagine. Filmmaker Jennifer Venditti literally found something interesting in the mind of a teenager named Billy, who suffers from a mental disorder-he is able to function properly and is very intelligent, but he does have his problems, including getting extremely angry from time to time.
And so we follow Billy around his life. He tells us his interests in music, and we learn about his relationship with his mother (who he loves immensely) and his stepfather (who is more a father to him than his actually father.) But the bulk of the film follows Billy's love life-he tells us about an incident involving the first girl he ever had real feelings for, and then we see him attempt to go after Heather, a young girl working in a diner who has a disorder with her eyes. She was supposed to be blind, but overcame that. Her eyes twitch often, and are in constant motion. There is a kind of sweetness to this rather off kilter relationship, even though it does not end in the manner that you would expect it too. I guess its rather fitting how the movie surprises you, because life often never ends up the way you would think.
I have to give credit to Venditti for making a regular persons life interesting, but Billy is quite a character. He knows that he is unique and different, and claims that he doesn't "boast about it." I would have liked to learn a little bit of back story-my main question is how Venditti was introduced to Billy, and why she was fascinated with him enough to make a documentary film about him. What compelled her to Billy in the first place? She does a good job at separating herself from her subject-we never even get a glance from her besides from hearing her voice a few times. But the movie is still consistently entertaining, enjoyable, and even poignant on the whole. While I wouldn't put it on the top of the list of offbeat docs of the year-I guess others including "The King of Kong," one of the best films of the year, and "My Kid Could Paint That," but it is still a fascinating look into the life of a human being-simple, yet the sociological elements are immense.
"Billy the Kid" can be found in New York City at the IFC Center.
A Documentary Film by Jennifer Venditti
84 Minutes(Not Rated)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Billy the Kid" is a very entertaining documentary-it's the kind of documentary that I always tend to go and see. It is not about a political issue, or a conflict of interest between nations, or even a complex story. It is a story about real people doing real things-which always ends up being more interesting than you would imagine. Filmmaker Jennifer Venditti literally found something interesting in the mind of a teenager named Billy, who suffers from a mental disorder-he is able to function properly and is very intelligent, but he does have his problems, including getting extremely angry from time to time.
And so we follow Billy around his life. He tells us his interests in music, and we learn about his relationship with his mother (who he loves immensely) and his stepfather (who is more a father to him than his actually father.) But the bulk of the film follows Billy's love life-he tells us about an incident involving the first girl he ever had real feelings for, and then we see him attempt to go after Heather, a young girl working in a diner who has a disorder with her eyes. She was supposed to be blind, but overcame that. Her eyes twitch often, and are in constant motion. There is a kind of sweetness to this rather off kilter relationship, even though it does not end in the manner that you would expect it too. I guess its rather fitting how the movie surprises you, because life often never ends up the way you would think.
I have to give credit to Venditti for making a regular persons life interesting, but Billy is quite a character. He knows that he is unique and different, and claims that he doesn't "boast about it." I would have liked to learn a little bit of back story-my main question is how Venditti was introduced to Billy, and why she was fascinated with him enough to make a documentary film about him. What compelled her to Billy in the first place? She does a good job at separating herself from her subject-we never even get a glance from her besides from hearing her voice a few times. But the movie is still consistently entertaining, enjoyable, and even poignant on the whole. While I wouldn't put it on the top of the list of offbeat docs of the year-I guess others including "The King of Kong," one of the best films of the year, and "My Kid Could Paint That," but it is still a fascinating look into the life of a human being-simple, yet the sociological elements are immense.
"Billy the Kid" can be found in New York City at the IFC Center.
posted by Eric at
8:56 PM
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