Product: Dirty Pictures (2011)
Rating: 2.0
Weak and Wandering
First let me say that the Shulgins get 5 stars for their lives and all the goodness Sasha has brought into the world. He is a brilliant scientist with the best kind of creative inquiring mind - the kind of person so desperately needed in our messed up world. I am thankful this film was made, as it gives a glimpse into their realm that one might not ever be able to have without the benefit of video.But then I have to say that the documentary is pretty weak. There is not much content, just a rambling walk through their homestead. The scenes seem very random and unconnected. Many times I was wondering if they had just left the camera on by mistake. But surely the editor would have picked the best stuff ...So I am left to conclude that the film was not edited. Just a bunch of footage assembled with no real plan or narrative. Footage from Burning Man, from the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, some of a raid on their lab which never gets explained. Lots of side stories and interviews with others in the field of psychopharmacology and neuroscience. Some of that is interesting and some of it is a waste of time. Watching the one guy play bad guitar in his garage while he tells you he has never taken psychedelics was the minus three point for me.Still, there are some redeeming moments. I'm trying to tell myself that the director was French, and so it has a European feel to it - an art film. Not sure if I'll be able to convince myself of this or not. If you are really into the whole altered states scene and the people who are behind the powders and pills, you should check this out. If you are looking for a great documentary film which follows the typical biographical narrative with concise interviews and cool images set to music and such, this will leave you dissappointed.