Cult comic-book writer Alan Moore looks like a
Monty Python cave-hermit, and given his frequent cantankerous pronouncements
about politics, magic, and creators' rights, he seems like a dark, foreboding
figure. But as anyone who's had the pleasure of chatting with Moore can attest,
he's an agreeable sort, generous with his time and his dry wit. Moore can be
prickly to people and institutions who disappoint him, but even the old friends
and comic-book companies he won't talk to anymore still speak of Moore in
glowing terms, and note how much they miss interacting with a man who makes
life more interesting.
Dez Vylenz's documentary The Mindscape Of Alan
Moore
consists of a 70-minute monologue in which Moore offers a little detail about
his working-class upbringing and early career, and reveals what led to books
like V For Vendetta, The Watchmen, and From Hell. Vylenz then illustrates
Moore's words with images from his comics, along with a few recreations, some
abstract animation, close-ups of objects from Moore's house, and shots of
industrial Northampton. Mindscape includes no testimonials from famous Moore fans,
and no narration to frame what the subject says. The film is dense, deep, and
closed-off.
As such, The Mindscape Of Alan Moore will probably appeal
mainly to Moore fans, most of whom will already be familiar with the
philosophical tangents he explores. Still, it's useful to have a cohesive Moore
manifesto so readily available, especially one that ranges from mundane
practicality (such as Moore describing the difficulty of balancing the erotic
and the intellectual in Lost Girls) to the beguilingly fanciful (such as Moore
contending that all artistic creation is a feat of magic). Mindscape's explication of Moore
reinforces one of the guiding principles he espouses in the film: "Having
deconstructed everything, we should start thinking about putting it all back
together."
Key features: Some additional "Why I love Moore"
statements from Vylenz in a selected-scene commentary track and interview, plus
a second disc containing lengthy interviews with Moore's frequent
collaborators.