Zappa

The genius that was Frank Zappa is on full display in Alex Winter’s all-encompassing documentary on the rock star/composer and his many personas. Zappa always seemed to stand apart from the rest of the rock scene in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s until his passing at the young age of 53 in 1993. His professed desire to follow in the footsteps of avant-garde composer Edgar Varèse—whose music he called, ‘the most frightening, evil, vile thing a human being could listen to; I couldn’t understand why people didn’t love it’—showed a level of ambition that far outstripped your garden variety ‘sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ rock star. So enter the world of Frank Zappa and come away changed…

‘Winter brings a fan’s eye and a shared maverick sensibility to this suitably unruly documentary… Exhilarating… Winter had a lot to work with: Zappa kept an exhaustive archive of recordings and material, documenting every aspect of his wide-ranging career and frequently recalcitrant public persona. Key to the success of the film is the editing, a pinballing assault of free association, claymation and gleeful profanity, which goes some way towards recreating what it must have been like to spend time inside Zappa’s head.’—Wendy Ide, The Guardian