Today at last, I had a chance to watch Ant McWatt’s second documentary on the life and work of Robert Pirsig, “On the Road with Robert Pirsig“. (The first installment “Arrive Without Travelling” I reviewed when it came out around a year ago, and it was a little difficult to disguise my disappointment, though relatively easy to blame that on the ordeal of watching my own excruciating contribution as well as the distracting psychedelic overlays in a rookie production effort.)
This second chapter is a great improvement over the first. It stands on its own as a documentary of Pirsig’s “project” in writing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. There is less “on the road” than the title might suggest, and there is still that theme of 60’s Beatles & Beach Boys psychedelia in the links, but the production and editing is an order of magnitude higher quality than the first effort. The majority of the film is in fact a previously unpublished 2005 interview by Karen Whiteside, ranging from the relaxed and jovial to the intense and emotional, interspersed with contributions from John Sutherland and Ron DiSanto and clips from the Pirsig family archive.
One of several highlights for me personally is seeing Bob recall with much affection the contribution of “Sarah”, the seed crystal that worked its effect on Bob over several months beyond the single remark in the book. Bob should as he does receive the plaudits as the inspired writer of an inspiring rhetorical novel, but his feet are firmly on the ground when it comes to acknowledging the evolution of ideas through the minds of others.
I suspect the first documentary may remain a collectors item for hardcore “MoQ Fans” wishing to remember the first conference on the “Metaphysics of Quality” in Liverpool in 2005. This second On the Road with Robert Pirsig is however an eminently watchable documentary that should be considered a must for anyone with either an existing interest in Pirsig’s highly original Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or simply looking for a brief introduction – from the horse’s mouth – what all the fuss was about back in 1974.
[Post Note : Previous comment on this film. Updated the news on the Pirsig Page.]
Hmm.. Do these films come with dutch subtitles? Can one order these via the internet?
I doubt there is any foreign language subtitling available, but yes order from the link above … that is Anthony McWatt’s (the film-maker) website.
Hi Mark, genuinely sorry you feel that way.
I’m always open to any problem solving correspondence / actions, and specifically sympathetic to your interests.
Be interested what you are implying by “Cachinggg!” .. “5% of what ?” – but be careful what you allege in public.
I measure my integrity by my unpopularity on both sides of any “argument”. On that score I’m doing fine thanks.
Regards and take care.
Ian
Rats !!!
Mark’s comment has disappeared anyway (another bug with deleting multiple Russian spam entries) … That’s the third time now I’ve lost a batch of valid comments whilst moderating spam. Mark please mail me.
Hi Mark, genuinely sorry you feel that way.
I’m always open to any problem solving correspondence / actions, and specifically sympathetic to your interests.
Be interested what you are implying by “Cachinggg!” .. “5% of what ?” – but be careful what you allege in public.
I measure my integrity by my unpopularity on both sides of any “argument”. On that score I’m doing fine thanks.
Regards and take care.
Rats !!!
Mark’s comment has disappeared anyway (another bug with deleting multiple Russian spam entries) … That’s the third time now I’ve lost a batch of valid comments whilst moderating spam. Mark please mail me.
Comment from Squonk (Mark Maxwell) – reinstated from email copy 13th May 2009.
QUOTE
Cachingggg!
5% of that isn’t bad going for keeping your trap shut and selling what ever integrity you ever had down the swanny…
UNQUOTE
Sledgehammer fix to the problematic Cyrillic text spam …. don’t ask.
Anyway – no response. But to respond to Mark’s implied criticism.
(1) If you are saying it is wrong to earn money from publishing / documenting philosophy, then you set the ethical bar much higher than 99.9% of philosophers and publishers. Good luck to you.
(2) For the record, I run a “.org” operation here. There is not a single aspect of this that earns a penny – not even advertising or donations to recoup costs, lest there be any doubt on that score. I have no financial interest whatsoever in Ant’s projects (nor any Pirsig related projects). On the contrary I have provided goodwill donations and support to several such efforts, including your own.