FILM: I’M STILL HERE

Elliot Hyams reviews the ‘documentary’ that pulled the wool over Hollywood’s eyes.

“I’m just stuck in this ridiculous self imposed prison of characterisation. I don’t want to play the character of Joaquin anymore.” This is the loaded statement that serves as our entry point into one of the strangest social experiments ever to be set to film, I’m Still Here. In 2008 Joaquin Phoenix announced that he was retiring from the world of acting to pursue a career in hip hop. At first it was seen as a joke, but it soon became apparent that this was something Phoenix was taking very seriously. He vanished from the public eye, reappearing months later to do impromptu freestyle sessions at various L.A venues, almost unrecognisable under the long hair and bushy beard he had grown. Following a rambling and incoherent appearance on The Tonight Show, it seemed that Joaquin had lost his mind, he was mocked publicly by the media, and any dream he may have had of launching his rap career disappeared after a failed show in Miami turned into a fist fight. The experiment had failed, or had it?

The brain child of Phoenix and director Casey Affleck I’m Still Here was an attempt to explore the notions of celebrity and reality in a media obsessed world. The truth is it was all an elaborate hoax much reminiscent of the late Andy Kaufman, Some of the people that appear in the film are in on the joke, such as Sean ‘P Diddy’ Coombs, but most seem to be are unaware that this ‘documentary’ is anything other than reality. For two years Phoenix lived the part of a self obsessed, drug fuelled, megalomaniac, desperate to reinvent himself and on screen we get to witness the complete downfall of a promising young actor, as he shuns his friends, gets high, fights, argues, and throws tantrums all in the pursuit of the illusive notion of “producing something that really matters.” But as much as the Joaquin character is mocked on camera for feeling this way about his music there is always a feeling that off camera, this is how the real Joaquin felt about this film.

Tragically I’m Still Here is not as clever as it wants to be, nor is it as entertaining as it needs to be. It’s not a bad film, parts of it are quite brilliant, but the fact remains that the effort that went into making it is far more impressive than the finished article itself. Joaquin’s level of method acting would put De Niro to shame. There can be no doubt that he took an amazing risk in making this film. He alienated his fan base and made the media look foolish, this is never a good idea, and it will be interesting to see if his career can survive the fallout. Clearly there is rebuilding to be done, and Joaquin’s recent clean shaven appearance on The Tonight Show proves that he knows this. Was the risk worth it? Maybe not, but I’m Still Here is unique and inventive, and as such deserves to stand out from the crowd.

Review by Elliot Hyams