| Audience of One | |
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Audience of One promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Jacobs |
| Produced by | Alec Farbman Gary Jacobs Randy Woods Michael Jacobs Zack Sanders Matthew Woods |
| Starring | Richard Gazowsky |
| Music by | Jeff Forrest |
| Cinematography | Jim Granato Michael Jacobs |
| Editing by | Kyle Henry |
| Distributed by | Revolve Productions, Indiepix Films |
| Release date(s) | 9 March 2007 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Audience of One is an award-winning 2007 documentary directed by Michael Jacobs that was premiered on 9 March 2007 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
Contents |
The film follows the story of a San Francisco Pentecostal minister Richard Gazowsky on his quest to shoot a groundbreaking fantasy film called Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph (described by him as "Star Wars meets The Ten Commandments"). The film follows him and members of his church as they go through pre-production and fly to Alberobello, Italy, for initial shooting that turns out to be marred with difficulties. After returning home, Gazowsky manages to arrange a lease of the Treasure Island film studio, but as their promised financing from German investors never materializes, they get evicted - and eventually sued - by the city of San Francisco for not paying their rent. The final part of the film shows Gazowsky, still determined to make his film, presenting what appears to be a global domination plan to members of his church.
The theatrical trailer for Audience of One can be found at its official website.[1]
James Rocchi of Cinematical called the film "a fascinating documentary -- unblinking but not inhuman, sympathetic but never afraid to ask questions", and described Richard Gazowsky, the film's blustery yet relatable protagonist, as "a natural showman", stating that while "It's easy to see a sprinkling of Ed Wood-style mania in Gazowsky...he's also in service of a higher idea."[2] In the Austin American-Statesman, Chris Garcia agreed, describing Gazowsky as "a sanguine if irresponsible Quixote who enlists our goodwill" while also lauding director Michael Jacobs' treatment of his subject as "ceaselessly engaging, scrupulously nonjudgmental".[3] The Boston Globe's Wesley Morris likened Gazowsky's struggle to that of other infamous cinematic iconoclasts, stating that "as he [Gazowsky] seems to swell past Felliniesque portliness to Wellesian girth, he makes a comical and complex example of the conflict of religious devotion."[4]
Critic Ronnie Scheib of Variety praised the documentary's intimacy, the way that Jacobs "sticks close to his subjects, eschewing disdainful distance from their cinematic pipe dreams" and the Village Voice's J. Hoberman noted that the film was a "festival favorite throughout the US".[5][6]
The film's humor has been compared to film-making-gone-awry classics such as Lost in La Mancha and American Movie, while others have cited comparisons with the searching investigations of obsession in the films of Werner Herzog as well as Errol Morris' idiosyncratic character studies. V.A. Musetto of the New York Post summed the film up by simply stating that "Somewhere above us, God is Watching 'Audience of One' and chuckling. Mere mortals will be doing likewise."[7]
"What makes Audience of One so exceptional is how it can be interpreted in so many different ways. It is a haunting commentary on religious delusion, it is a piercing metaphor for the Bush/Cheney administrations stubbornness, it is a hilarious satire of filmmaking, yet perhaps most importantly, and strangely, it is a testament to faith and determination in the face of the most insurmountable odds." - Michael Tully, Hammer To Nail
"Manages, as the best docs will, to tell a resonant, character-driven story that makes us think, all the while laughing and cringing." - Anne Lewis, The Austin Chronicle
"A comical and complex example of the conflict of religious devotion." - Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe
"Fascinating documentary that could catch on theatrically." - Ronnie Scheib, Variety