March 2007

Absolute Wilson
Friday, March 9, 2007
5pm and 8pm
The Tower Theatre
815 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno (map)
$10.00 General Admission
$8.00 for Students and Seniors

“Impressive as is Wilson's output and oeuvre, it's the fully-engaged, aesthetically driven life that fascinates. And Otto-Bernstein's movie is a portrait of an artist at his most essential, in every sense.”
—Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times  [Full Review →]

“Absolute Wilson doesn't depend on believing in Wilson's greatness, just on his immense cultural potency and the extraordinary nature of his personal odyssey.”
—Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com  [Full Review →]

“Overall impression is one of unrestricted access and harmonious cooperation, which certainly helps to humanize the often daunting scope and style of Wilson's work.”
—Eddie Cockrell, Variety  [Full Review →]

Watch the Trailer

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Synopsis

This is a film about a full life, and art is part of it. It is not a film about art and life as part of it.
—Katharina Otto-Bernstein

That's how filmmaker Katharina Otto-Bernstein sums up her new documentary ABSOLUTE WILSON, a richly provocative and moving portrait of one of the most visionary theater artists of our time, the legendary Robert Wilson. The film delivers a surprisingly candid look at Robert Wilson the man, who drops his characteristic reticence and speaks with astonishing candor about his personal life: his troubled and lonely childhood as the son of the Mayor of Waco, Texas; his early learning disabilities; his work with disabled children using therapy as a tool for artistic expression; his departure from Texas at the time of his coming out and his fascination with the downtown New York avant-garde scene of the late 60's. What emerges is a life full of impressions, colors and rhythms, making it all the more poignant how Wilson's early hardships ultimately shaped his ground-breaking aesthetic vision, creating some of the most historic theatre and opera productions of the twentieth century. All told, it is a remarkable tale of a shy, stuttering boy's triumph over adversity. As director Otto-Bernstein exuberantly puts it, ABSOLUTE WILSON “tells a story for everyone to see how anything's possible — it really is an extraordinary American success story.”

Written and Directed by Katharina Otto-Bernstein
USA, 2006
105 min., Unrated

Advance tickets may be purchased at the following locations:
• WineStyles in Fig • Garden Village Shopping Center
• The Movies, located at 1435 N. Van Ness
• The Tower Theatre Box Office