Jack Smith and the Destruction Of Atlantis (2006)
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84% of critics liked it
(19 reviews) -
47% of users liked it
(2,387 ratings)
The underground art of renegade performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker Jack Smith is explored through the images he created and the words of those who knew him best in filmmaker Mary Jordan's tribute to the man believed to have inspired some of Andy Warhol's most iconic works. A virulent… More The underground art of renegade performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker Jack Smith is explored through the images he created and the words of those who knew him best in filmmaker Mary Jordan's tribute to the man believed to have inspired some of Andy Warhol's most iconic works. A virulent utopian and anti-capitalist whose works spanned from the 1960s to the late-1980s, Smith gained notoriety early on in his career when he went battled the Supreme Court over the banning of his controversial work "Flaming Creatures." An enigmatic artist whose work remains on the fringes of the mainstream despite the praise of curators from the Whitney to the Louvre, the effects of Smith's powerful influence are explored in interviews with those who both loved and hated Smith. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Rating, Runtime
- Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
- Directed By
- Mary Jordan
- Written By
- Mary Jordan
- Genres
- Documentary, Television, Musical & Performing Arts
- In Theaters
- Apr 26, 2006 Wide
- On DVD
- May 25, 2010
- Studio
- Film Forum
Critic Reviews
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Mary Jordan's documentary Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis is part unsparing explication of a life story, part love-stuck personification of Smith's working philosophy.
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Lou Lumenick, New York Post
This invaluable record contains a treasure trove of clips from Smith's hard-to-see and still striking films, plus comments that were culled from hours of interviews with this flamboyant pioneer.
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John Anderson, Newsday
There is invaluable material here, but also a lack of context for the wonderfully outre footage.
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Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
An intriguing, and profoundly frustrating, view of the New York underground hero.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The intoxicating documentary Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, directed by Mary Jordan, is a love poem to the New York City of the '50s and '60s, when Smith, the visionary of camp, more or less invented performance art.
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