The Aristocrats (2005)
"Penn Jillette and I think it's a
love story..." - Paul Provenza on his film at SXSW
2005
The phrase, "The Aristocrats," is
the punchline to one of the filthiest jokes that you
have ever heard. And what makes "The Aristocrats,"
the movie, such a beautiful film is that it has a
true love for comedy, for joke telling, for improvisation,
and for honoring the tradition of great American storytelling.
Yes, this is one of the most crude, most offensive,
most disgusting jokes one can imagine and yet, through
the jazz exploration of it that we see here, we come
to understand why such a joke is indeed, a beautiful
and wondrous thing.
Credit filmmakers Paul Provenza
and Penn Jillette for making this so. Perhaps only
comedians could make a film about the most disgusting
joke you can imagine so joyous, heartwarming and lovable.
There's a true respect for comedy here. There's an
honoring of storytelling and of amusing people. And,
surprising as it may sound, there's a real warmth
underlying the entire film.
The joke itself relies on improvisation
as its format is a simple set-up, extemporaneous riff
and then a punchline. In honor of this the filmmakers
interview literally hundreds of comedians about the
joke. All of them have heard it. (I am 42 years old
and the first time I heard the joke was when I read
about this film premiering at Sundance - where Thinkfilm
picked it up and paid a record price for a documentary).
A laundry list of the comedians involved can be found
on other websites but let me just say that everyone
from Phyllis Diller to Judy Gold, from Shelley Berman
to Chris Rock took part in the film. Find the list
of comedians that appear here at imdb.com
It will astound you. There's even an animated version
with the South Park kids and a version recorded at
the Hugh Hefner roast that Comedy Central did a few
years ago told by Gilbert Gottfried that are just
awesome.
"The Aristocrats" gives hundreds
of comedians not only an opportunity to talk about
their work and the traditions of their craft but it
also gives them an opportunity to extemporarize and
be downright funny on their own. I haven't laughed
this hard in a movie theater in quite a while and
I defy anyone to see this film and not think it is
one of the funniest film that they have ever seen.
Notes:
The film has scenes in the end credits
and ends with a segment featuring Tim Conway. A closing
credits reads: "For Johnny Carson."
Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize
for documentary at Sundance in January 2005.
In a Q&A after the showing I attended
at SXSW in 2005, Provenza said that he and Jillette
filmed over 100 hours of footage and that the DVD
would contain many extras including scenes with Ron
Jeremy and Terry Gilliam, the later explaining how
the joke would work as a feature film scene by scene.
Bob Saget, who has about 5 minutes in the film, told
a version that went on for 45 minutes and Provenza
hopes to include more in the DVD as well.
Provenza also told us that the film
would be released unrated as Thinkfilm did not want
to submit it to the MPAA.
He also told us that we were the
first "non-industry" group to see the film and that
he was pleased with the response that the audience
had to it.
The screening I attended had the
piece shown on video but I assume it will be transferred
to 35mm for the theatrical release.
The screening I attended at SXSW
in 2005 featured editor Emery Emery and one of the
producers as participants in the Q&A. Comedian Sarah
Silverman, who is in this film and had another film
("Jesus is Magic," which she wrote) debuting at SXSW,
was also in attendance.
