Benjamin Smoke

Benjamin Smoke
by Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Benjamin Dickerson, Bill Taft, Brian Halloran, Coleman Lewis, Tim Campion
Director: Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen
Cinematographer: Jem Cohen
Editor: Jem Cohen
Writer: Jem Cohen
Cinematographer: Peter Sillen
Editor: Peter Sillen
Writer: Peter Sillen
Editor: Nancy Roach
Producer: Noah Cowan
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-01-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Plexifilm

Movie Reviews of Benjamin Smoke

Movie Review: Mesmerizing...
Summary: 5 Stars

I was fortunate enough to be able to see this at the National Film Theatre when I was living in London. I was in a film class through University College London, and we had the chance to see about 5 of Jem Cohen's documentaries - and the best part was that Cohen was there too, and after the film he got up and spoke about them and took questions.

I had never heard of Benjamin Smoke before seeing this documentary, but have been intrigued by him ever since. The documentary is stunning in it's portrayal of Benjamin, and you really do get the sense that you've been taken somewhere else - a completely different realm - if only for a few minutes. I'm a freelance photographer and I cannot say how often the images from this documentary have run through my mind as I've tried to capture my own sense of "difference" in the world.

This is definitely a mood piece, and I'd say that it'd be best to watch it in a place where you can just focus on the film itself - let yourself be mesmerized by it...

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Summary of Benjamin Smoke

Filmmakers Jem Cohen ("Fugazi:Instrument") and Peter Sillen ("Speed Racer: Welcome to World of Vic Chesnutt") made BENJAMIN SMOKE over the course of ten years. It follows the crooked path of "Benjamin" (no last name), an underground musician, speed-freak, occasional drag-queen, and all-around renegade living in the hidden Georgia neighborhood called "Cabbagetown," and playing in an indescribable band called Smoke. The film includes a special appearance by Patti Smith and photographs by Michael Ackerman.

In life, the late Atlanta musician known as Benjamin (n?e Robert Dickerson) was a jumble of identities--singer, Patti Smith fan, drag queen, drug addict, and wry raconteur. The story of the 10 years before his 1999 death from complications due to HIV makes for an engrossing viewing experience for indie-minded film fans. Directors Jem Cohen (the Fugazi documentary Instrument) and Peter Sillen (Speed Racer) capture this eccentric figure in glimpses of 16mm and Super 8 as he philosophizes and performs with his bands, the Opal Foxx and, later, Smoke. The film's tone turns bleak as Benjamin's health begins to deteriorate, but his resilient nature, and a moving appearance by Smith that provides a coda for his life, brings a bittersweet finale in this fascinating portrait of a deep dreamer. Plexifilm's full-frame DVD includes an extra 40 minutes of outtakes and performances, including affecting covers of Benjamin's songs by musicians Cat Power and Vic Chestnutt. --Paul Gaita

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