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if you're not familiar with hofmann's work you may find this video to be a good introduction. ultimately, thats all it is; an introduction. being 50 minutes long i'd expect more out of it.
although having some biographical moments in it, this is not a documentary in that sense. at least i hope it wasn't intended that way because if it was it missed. what the film in fact suggests that it intends to be is a document of the teaching methods of hofmann. yet it falls short there as well. so it neither captures successfully the history of the artist nor the method of his teaching. what then is left? the film is primarily an homage to hofmann's teaching through the interviews of his students and more aptly interviews with students of his students. thats right, a good portion of this is made up of second and third generation removed from the man himself. there is a significant amount of 1st generation interviews and there is nothing especially wrong with the others. unfortunately, despite efforts that are made to explain how hofmann taught, you won't learn anything about it nor much from it. somehow every interviewee filmed here simply can't explain it either than to say the man was great at it. an homage, but not educational nor informative. there is truly little substance here and its really disappointing.
maybe my expectations were too high. i don't think so. maybe i knew already most of what is given here as his teachings. i knew a bit but come on there is certainly more to it. i could say the one thing i did learn from the film: the film is narrated robert deniro who's parents met in a class taught by hofmann and they had asked him to be robert's godfather (although they never actually say if he was...)
i love art videos. i love the filmings of hofmann. i appreciate what is in this film about hofmann and his teaching methods. i simply think this could've been so much better.
(6/10)
6/10
