In a Dream
A Philly documentarian examines his father's art -- warts and all.
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar
B+
Civic pride is a frighteningly potent force in Philadelphia; just witness the Audience Award bestowed at this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival/Cinefest 09 upon the reportedly not-terrible yet unexceptional South Philly-shot boxer weepie The Nail. In a Dream—Jeremiah Zagar’s doc on his father, Philadelphia artist Isaiah—scored a trophy at last year’s film fest, but the rather objective excellence of the film is equal, if not more so, to its local interest. (And it’s been an award magnet at several other film fests as well.)
To both denizens and tourists, Isaiah Zagar is familiar as the artist responsible for the mosaic murals on countless buildings throughout the South Street area. Consisting of an otherworldly marriage of mirrors and colored tile, these pieces are frankly made to be filmed, and Zagar the younger—along with a team of cinematographers— delights in finding ways to shoot them, often with his scruffy-bearded, elderly pop standing in front of them.
Having extended his gallery outward from his own insanely decked-out house—which rivals the density of filmmaker Ken Jacobs’ packed loft in his son’s film Momma’s Man—Isaiah Zagar is the living stereotype of the cloistered, bohemian artist, living for little else than his art. And while Jeremiah Zagar celebrates that luxury, he’s all too cognizant of the flipside.
The film’s title goes both ways, and before long In a Dream has become about its subject’s stubbornness and self-absorption. Sure enough, skeletons begin tumbling from closets and one major marital happening explodes while the camera is rolling.
Despite all this, In a Dream isn’t comparable to Nathaniel Kahn’s My Architect, the documentary Louis Kahn’s son made about his father’s double life. In fact, In a Dream doesn’t feel like it was made by the subject’s son at all; the director himself rarely acknowledges his own presence, even during deeply personal moments.
Instead, Jeremiah Zagar keeps pushing—blending the TMI family stuff with an analysis of his father’s work, interviews, footage of Isaiah working and jaw-dropping images of the works themselves. It wants it all, in one dense latticework.
Concerning art, In a Dream is a work of art itself.
See our movie showtimes section to find out when and where to see In A Dream.
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