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Random Lunacy: Videos from the Road
Less Traveled |
| DIR VICTOR ZIMET,
STEPHANIE SILBER |
| DOCUMENTARY |
VIDEO |
59:55 MIN NEW YORK PREMIERE |
“This guy makes Jack Kerouac look like he lived at
home with his mother and went out on the road on weekends.” – Alec
Wilkinson, The New Yorker
Closing the 14th Annual New
York Underground Film Festival is the New York Premiere of Victor
Zimet and Stephanie Silber's Random Lunacy: Videos from the Road
Less Traveled. All happy families are not alike, as proved by
Poppa Neutrino, aka David Pearlman, and his Flying Neutrinos. A
wandering soul, a particle spontaneously transforming, Poppa leads
his family on a true quest for freedom and adventure. Rather than to
drift through the obligations of an ordinary, "sequential" life,
Poppa chooses to be what most people recognize as homeless—a
lifestyle he elects for himself as well as his ever-expanding
family.
Unencumbered by any possessions (save, curiously, a
video-camera that seems to have been rolling since the early 1980's)
the Neutrinos roam the globe, Poppa philosophizing all the way. An
astounding wealth of footage captures moments of the fledgling
family learning ways of happiness, respect and adulthood from their
captain, alongside confessions of mortal doubts and fears stirred by
the intensity of Poppa's scarier lessons.
While it may seem
that what makes Poppa's life so remarkable is the
where-the-wind-takes-him absence of any "plan," try again. This man
has a master plan that is always evolving, always growing grander if
not more grandiose—but never to outgrow the simple goal of living
life randomly and lovingly. At times he makes it look easy and other
times impossible. Why can’t everyone live this way? Well… we can—but
we don’t—so Poppa’s story is modern myth, and as inspiring as you
can dream.
“Movies like to pretend they're different, but
Random Lunacy really, truly is.… Poppa doesn't work, pay rent,
listen to doctors or kiss institutional butt. He prefers to invent
his life as he goes along, whether he's building a raft out of
scraps and sailing the Atlantic, inventing a new football play or
touring the world from Mexico to Russia with his band, The Flying
Neutrinos. But don't discount the intellect that Poppa uses to back
up his wit and daring as leader of his tribe. That's right, tribe.
Family is what you call the Waltons. The collection of wives,
children, step-children and believers who make up the Neutrinos
defies categorization. And so, using Poppa's own videos to augment
their tale, Zimet and Silber throw us into a life that intoxicates,
infuriates and leaves us panting for each unique and unforgettable
adventure. Prepare to be wowed.” - Peter Travers, Rolling
Stone
Closing Night
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