Old man sits alone. Looks out window. Plays movie.
This is Movie Man—and it’s far more entertaining than it sounds. Jam-packed with movie magic, actually.
There are a few reasons for that. Stig Björkman is the first. This octogenarian director, writer, interviewer, and film critic has steeped himself in the movie scene for years. His Stockholm apartment is filled with mementos to show for it, and that helps now that he must quarantine alone. If not for the coronavirus, he’d be jet setting around the world attending film festivals.
So, he throws on a movie. And then another. And another. Looks out the window; tap dances a bit. Oh! A video call, with friends! There’s always the video call with friends, too.
It doesn’t take many moments of Stig sitting in silence for us to empathize with his plight. Quarantine has affected us all. The camera sometimes continues filming for a few seconds past those moments, but no matter. There is plenty of movie magic left in this documentary to make up for that.
Which brings us to reason two. Because Stig has been around the block, his chats with friends—ahem, big names and luminaries—are documentary gold. We see how these people react when the world pauses. When they’re off of the red carpet, sitting shoeless on their own.
How gratifying it is. John Sayles’s Spanish totally needs work. Burhan Qurbani (like me) wants people to stop being so creative already! Isabella Rossellini casually drops a bombshell idea of returning to moviemaking. And then there's that scene where Stig is watching special features for a movie that he loves, and in those special features, the director praises some of Stig’s work. Film reels all the way down.
The best and most evocative part of Movie Man, though—the reason why I think it will be viewed and discussed for years to come—is its extraordinary compilation of movie scenes and music, weaved seamlessly into the context of our corona film club. The movie is truly a treat; a nonstop barrage of pleasurable, memorable moments from movie history. A reminder of the wonder and magic that cinema can bring to our (sometimes bleak) lives. You don’t need to have seen all (or really any) of these to feel the power they carry.
Stig, of course, didn’t need such a reminder. But I bet you all my popcorn that, nestled in his chair, surrounded by all those DVDs and books, candy bowl at the ready and TV playing this movie, he’d be tickled to see how he plays a part in such a grand story. And that tickles me, too.