Directed by Gero von Boehm • Documentary • 2016 • 52 minutes
Henry Miller had five wives and considered himself bound to both the continent of Europe and to the US. This portrait is a close-up of the life of the extraordinary Miller, who, rebellious and narcissistic, entered the realm of the appetites, yet also maintained a vision of a freer society for all humans.
A sorcerer of literature to many and a reliable source of scandal throughout his life, Miller's stormy relationships with women were the stuff of legend and inspired him to create ever more works. Bestsellers like "Tropic of Cancer" and "Sexus" revolutionised literature by offering erotic descriptions of unprecedented linguistic frankness. This led to Miller's books being banned in the United States and Great Britain right into the 1960s. And even in France, his 1949 work "Sexus" could not be published for eighteen years.
But who was Henry Miller really? An erotic maniac posing as a writer? A mere self-publicist? "A terrible man" is what Miller was, in the words of his friend, writer Erica Jong, "who cultivated a fearless style. The voice he found expressed the abundance of the man. It was not the sex the puritans hated and feared. It was the abundance. It wasn't the obscenity that offended but the vitality."
Up Next in First Hand Films
-
Heroes for a Semester
Directed by Axel Breuer • Documentary • 2012 • 82 minutes
Chicago. A man has been innocently imprisoned - for more than twenty years. All claims have been rejected. He is condemned to life sentence. His only chance: a handful of law students.
At the Northwestern University of Chicago, several g...
-
Homecoming - Máhccan
Directed by Suvi West, Anssi Kömi • Documentary • 2023 • 76 minutes
Filmmaker Suvi West takes the audience behind the scenes of the museum world, revealing a visual, philosophical, and spiritual realm. Sámi herself, she seeks a connection with her ancestors through old museum objects, eventually...
-
I'm in Love with My Car
Directed by Ilaria Malagutti • Documentary • 2017 • 73 minutes
A colorful sparkling history of The Car and us, in it. Hearing, smell, touch, sight, taste, that is to say all of the the human biological nature, has apparently changed since we started driving. More than any other object, cars have...
