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Shirkersis, in many respects, a singular movie.
Directed by novelist and filmmaker Sandi Tan, it debuted at Sundance earlier this year and itstechnicallyher feature debut.
A couple even get referenced tangentially in the film itself.
My film is not about Vietnam, Coppola declared when he broughtApocalypse Nowto the Cannes Film Festival.
Its what it was really like.
It was crazy … And little by little we went insane.
If that sounds pretentious, the film at least puts the statement in context.
Thats just one setback chronicled in Les Blanks making-of docBurden of Dreams, released the same year.
At least Herzog and Coppola were struggling to create remarkable art.
The thing about filmmaking is that even bad movies take a lot of work.
For all its comic moments, the film leaves these questions unanswered.
Shirkersalso belongs to a documentary subgenre about films that never were.
Serge Brombergs 2009 documentaryHenri-Georges Clouzots Infernomakes clear this was a major loss.
This could have been a leap forward rather than a dead end.
Its not the end of the story, though.
AsShirkerssimilarly proves, sometimes time and fate make their own plans for movies.
