What we're offered, for the most part, is a portrait of the poet as an eccentric. We see Birney seated by a lake with fellow poet Al Purdy and the effect is rather like an episode of SCTV's Great White North. We see Birney reciting for students and the effect is of a bearded old jester enchanting fresh-faced youth. We see Birney reciting his concrete poem Alaska Passage while the musicians of a group called Nexus create a sound environment and the effect is one of self-indulgent irrelevance. At one time, we could count on the film board to spotlight rather than ignore passion.
Admission is free.