IN PRAISE OF NOTHING

Boris Mitic, RS, 2017
78 min., OmeU (englisch)
Dokumentarfilm
A satirical documentary parable about Nothing, in which Nothing, tired of being misunderstood, runs away from home and comes to address us for the first and the last time. Researched through 20.000 pages of the most eclectic bibliography ever used in a documentary film, shot over 8 years by 62 cinematographers in 70 countries; scored by cabaret grandmasters Pascal Comelade and the Tiger Lillies; narrated – in simple childlike
verse – by Iggy Pop
“Nothing” might not have a very promising name, but it’s nonetheless an enterprising character. Tired of being misunderstood, it runs away from home and travels across eight mountain ranges and eight seas to come and visit us—commenting on all it sees, contemplating life and death, politics, the relationship between men and women, and the meaning of life, all in simple verse. It’s the world according to Nothing, an all-encompassing vision. The gravelly voice of Iggy Pop drives along this critical monologue. Sometimes lingering, sometimes restless, the rhythm of his narration has its visual counterpart in a series of documentary images of nothing filmed all over the world by 62 cinematographers. The footage complements or contrasts with the text, or leaves us guessing at a possible connection. The result is a feel-good documentary about Nothing, in which platitudes, deep insights, poetic observations and small mysteries blend to form a compelling whole.

“This is like something from the Renaissance or something.” – Iggy Pop

“Apothéosique!” – Pascal Comelade

“A torrential blues litany, tickling the limits of hope.” – CineLapsus

“A Charlie Chekhov fuckyoumentary!” - Jacob Michelson-Shamelashivili

“Too wise to be poetic.” – Film Explorer

“An outstanding essay about the scariest thing on earth. We won’t fear the abyss anymore.” –
Cuadernos de Cine

“Turns out Zeitgeist has a voiceover of an aging ageless punk icon. How appropriate!” –
Forbes

“Iggy Pop is the voice of Nothing in a film about everything. Confused? This is just the
beginning of a massive cosmic comedy.” – CPH:DOX

“Poor Nothing, prisoner of the rhymes…” – Ximena Caminos’s mother

“I just broke up with my boyfriend. Please send me a link so that I can watch the film again,
with a friend’s dog.” - Iulia Vlad

"This is the only real thing I saw today. - Christine Monori

“Watching this film is like a mixture of feelings from before and after making love.”
– Agron Domi

“Can I screen this film at my funeral, twice?” – Johan Kolinsky

"Your poster made my cat melancholic." - Magda Maksiak