castanedamovie.com/
Anyone heard about it?
Could be cool, even if I doubt that a 90minutes movie would transmit anything valuable of the knowledge contained in the ten (or so) books that castaneda did write.
From "The New York Times":
MOVIE REVIEW | 'CARLOS CASTANEDA: ENIGMA OF A SORCERER'
The Shaman May Have Been Fake, but, Hey, the Drugs Were Real
By DAVE KEHR
as Carlos Castaneda — the U.C.L.A. anthropologist whose 1968 book, "The
Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge," became one of the
founding texts of the New Age movement — a great spiritual leader or a
cynical con man? The documentary "Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer,"
which opens today at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater in the Easùùùùùt Village,
struggles with that question but ultimately declines to answer it.
Directed by Ralph Torjan, once a member of Castaneda's inner circle of
students, this digital video documentary piles up plenty of evidence that
Don Juan, the Yaqui shaman from Mexico who supposedly trained Castaneda in
the ancient Indian ways of accessing alternative realties, was a complete
invention on Castaneda's part.
Many of Don Juan's "teachings," the film suggests, were drawn from
previously published academic articles, and little in Castaneda's account
of his fabled apprenticeship to the master checks out when compared to the
available facts.
Castaneda, who died in 1998, used the celebrity his best-selling book
earned him to establish his own personality cult. He surrounded himself
with servile followers and made a habit of seducing female recruits.
One of his former lovers bluntly characterizes the group around him as
"Carlos's private harem."
But as painfully aware of Castaneda's shortcomings as he is, Mr. Torjan
makes no secret of having been deeply affected by his time with him. He
tries to reclaim what he can from his former guru, offering testimony from
several ex-members of the Castaneda cult about the profound, positive
effect Castaneda's teachings had on their lives.
Unfortunately the explanations get very fuzzy at this point, and it
becomes hard to tell just what Castaneda was advocating, apart from the
liberal use of psychedelic drugs.
Trying to recreate that experience, Mr. Torjan has framed his talking-head
interviews against an annoyingly persistent psychedelic background,
generated by the popular music visualization program G-Force. It's not
easy to concentrate on what's being said when pulsating colors and
geometric patterns are radiating from the speakers' heads. But maybe
that's what Castaneda himself was counting on, as he rode the vague
ramblings of a probably fictional teacher to what was, and remains, an
international reputation as a modern prophet.
CARLOS CASTANEDA
Enigma of a Sorcerer
Written, directed and edited by Ralph Torjan; music by Mr. Torjan and
Robert J. Feldman; produced by Mr. Torjan and Pamela Weir-Quiton; released
by Indican Pictures. At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, 155 East Third
Street, at Avenue A, East Village. Running time: 91 minutes. This film is
not rated.
Anyone heard about it?
Could be cool, even if I doubt that a 90minutes movie would transmit anything valuable of the knowledge contained in the ten (or so) books that castaneda did write.
From "The New York Times":
MOVIE REVIEW | 'CARLOS CASTANEDA: ENIGMA OF A SORCERER'
The Shaman May Have Been Fake, but, Hey, the Drugs Were Real
By DAVE KEHR
as Carlos Castaneda — the U.C.L.A. anthropologist whose 1968 book, "The
Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge," became one of the
founding texts of the New Age movement — a great spiritual leader or a
cynical con man? The documentary "Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer,"
which opens today at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater in the Easùùùùùt Village,
struggles with that question but ultimately declines to answer it.
Directed by Ralph Torjan, once a member of Castaneda's inner circle of
students, this digital video documentary piles up plenty of evidence that
Don Juan, the Yaqui shaman from Mexico who supposedly trained Castaneda in
the ancient Indian ways of accessing alternative realties, was a complete
invention on Castaneda's part.
Many of Don Juan's "teachings," the film suggests, were drawn from
previously published academic articles, and little in Castaneda's account
of his fabled apprenticeship to the master checks out when compared to the
available facts.
Castaneda, who died in 1998, used the celebrity his best-selling book
earned him to establish his own personality cult. He surrounded himself
with servile followers and made a habit of seducing female recruits.
One of his former lovers bluntly characterizes the group around him as
"Carlos's private harem."
But as painfully aware of Castaneda's shortcomings as he is, Mr. Torjan
makes no secret of having been deeply affected by his time with him. He
tries to reclaim what he can from his former guru, offering testimony from
several ex-members of the Castaneda cult about the profound, positive
effect Castaneda's teachings had on their lives.
Unfortunately the explanations get very fuzzy at this point, and it
becomes hard to tell just what Castaneda was advocating, apart from the
liberal use of psychedelic drugs.
Trying to recreate that experience, Mr. Torjan has framed his talking-head
interviews against an annoyingly persistent psychedelic background,
generated by the popular music visualization program G-Force. It's not
easy to concentrate on what's being said when pulsating colors and
geometric patterns are radiating from the speakers' heads. But maybe
that's what Castaneda himself was counting on, as he rode the vague
ramblings of a probably fictional teacher to what was, and remains, an
international reputation as a modern prophet.
CARLOS CASTANEDA
Enigma of a Sorcerer
Written, directed and edited by Ralph Torjan; music by Mr. Torjan and
Robert J. Feldman; produced by Mr. Torjan and Pamela Weir-Quiton; released
by Indican Pictures. At the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, 155 East Third
Street, at Avenue A, East Village. Running time: 91 minutes. This film is
not rated.
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