directed by:
Richard Yeagley written by: Mark Anthony Thomas genre: Documentary |
Poetry is such a wonderful form of expression. I can remember a time when I thought I might have that ability and passion, but to be honest, I would read or hear the work of others and quickly realize I was nowhere close to doing it the way I admired in so many others. I think for writers, like myself, we can see words in the way that others see paintings. Poetry has always revealed beautiful, illustrious images in my mind; it’s a form of communication that can express an emotion or moment in ways that pretty much nothing else can. There is no long-form equivalent that can do what poetry can do in a short & fiery burst of potent & powerful words, in my humble opinion.
Written directly by the man himself, Mark Anthony Thomas, the poet and protagonist of this short new documentary film directed by Richard Yeagley, we get a glimpse of how poetry has affected and altered the life of a dedicated poet. He wrote a book called “The Poetic Repercussion,” which he considers to be the most important work he’s done to date, and through this film, we get to see his words come alive, straight from the source. As Thomas is introduced to us in this film, you get to see him thriving in his element as he regales a crowd of supporters with the words he’s worked so hard on. And I’ll be real with you - I felt like I could immediately listen to the guy read the phonebook if he felt so inclined. His cadence and the way he speaks are so remarkably engaging… you can hear the wisdom in what he says, but you can also FEEL the excitement in the way he speaks. What you’re essentially hearing when you hear Mark speak is the sound of passion in real-time, and it’s quite a beautiful thing. The combination of visuals and how Thomas and Yeagley put this together was extremely clever. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that, of all the poetry-based films I’ve ever watched, this has to be the best of’em! Okay…I’ll admit, this is the first poetry-based film I’ve personally seen, but I still know what’s good when I see it in front of me. I love how Yeagley and Thomas made this such a touching story in the way that they chose to present it. Thomas is basically right there in someone’s open concept house, right there in front of those who have likely admired his work for years, but for us, it feels like we’ve been allowed right into the room. So right off the drop, that’s super cool to me - I felt like that was the right way to get us all engaged with “In Need Of Seawater” on a highly personal level. Secondly, having Thomas read his words to us with his naturally expressive style and love for words right there onscreen for all to see was a freakin’ masterstroke. Like, if a construction worker was this passionate about construction and wanted to express himself, or a dentist was this excited to dish the wonderful secrets of dentistry, I’d absolutely listen, you know what I mean? Hearing Thomas speak is a true joy, honor, and privilege - that’s how I hear it. Then to have his words carry on throughout a series of artistic scenes and visuals from Yeagley added in…I mean…this is art right onscreen; you can hear it, you can see it, you can feel it. Listen to something like “Fishbowl With Words,” and you’ll gain an incredible understanding of just how much of a role words have played in the life of Thomas. He delivers it with organic ease and a genuine personality that you simply couldn’t fake. Lemme tell you from the perspective of a person who has been fortunate enough to see this film and happens to be a writer, I found this particular poem to be nothing short of completely inspiring. This is what I mean by witnessing things I could never write and how much that made me realize that my own place in prose was never going to be as a poet. Just like that aforementioned construction worker and dentist, or anything else that requires a special degree of knowledge to do it as well as it could possibly be done, I know to leave poetry to the experts like Mark. The master’s grip of the language that he puts on display through “Fishbowl With Words” was seriously awesome to experience. He drops it on us with humor, grace, enthusiasm, and intention behind every word. On “Black Man’s Work,” Thomas will take you into more personal terrain as he goes on to relate what it’s like to live life as a black man in today’s world, detailing all that so many go through before they even get out of bed in the morning. It’s a very real moment in the film and within Mark’s work; so many folks would have no idea about how the struggles and confines of society would weigh someone down each and every day, if they’re living a life with the perspective that privilege affords. So for sure, a poem like “Black Man’s Work” is not only insightful, it’s outright important in the context of communication & how it helps society evolve. It’s because Mark is so willing to share his knowledge and experiences with us that we are all richer for having listened, and you’ll find you genuinely learned much along the way.
What might make his work even more impressive is that he actually uses a highly complex writing style and makes it land in a very understandable way. You know what I’m saying? So many writers tend to write beyond their audience, or in a way that doesn’t actually resonate with their potential readers. The words get lost in ambition, and the meaning behind them becomes permanently obscured. To hear what Thomas is doing is like hearing the complete opposite. Check out “Fishbowl With Words” again for example - Thomas isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to saying what he wants to say, but he does it all in such a magnificently down-to-earth way that we all find a way to relate to it, and see the world from his perspective through the imagery in his words. Or poems like “The Declaration” and “Even The Sky” to follow, which highlight the power of inspiration, and in turn, aim to inspire others at the same time. Thomas has been at what he does as a poet for a long time, but on “Even The Sky,” he reminds us that he’s still standing on the shoulders of giants himself, weaving important moments of black history from the past, while showing us the impact that his words make in the present on the faces of his guests. None of it is pretentious…at least not to me. But I don’t think it would be to you either. Thomas comes at his words from a very real place. Sure, it might be a little strange for some of us to think of what it would be like to have that one poetic friend who hauls out soliloquies like that dude with his acoustic guitar, but Mark shows us what the value of having this kind of art, perspective, and conversation would be like to have in your life. I would only hope that by watching and experiencing his poems in “In Need Of Seawater” would inspire ALL of us to find more space for art, and our connection to it, in our lives. There are moments like “Exactly Why” that will send shivers down your spine for all the right reasons. You’ll experience humor and humility through something like “In The Shop.” As you’d likely expect from such a gifted writer and expressive communicator, Mark brings a plethora of emotions to his work as he draws on a wide variety of topics along the way. In the context of his book “The Poetic Repercussion,” where all these individual pieces speak together about the pursuit of one man trying to understand what life is really all about, he’s allowed us to come with him on that journey through every word he’s written. “When I was young, there wasn’t a person like me, who was an older version of who I saw I wanted to become” - what a wonderful way of putting that. Astoundingly insightful, really. If you’ve ever felt different than the rest…out of place…struggling to relate to others…you’ve probably felt a similar way at some point in your own life, and Mark proves that we’re actually not alone by what he’s saying there. I’m going with four and a half stars out of five for this short film - I think it has been executed perfectly in just about every way I can conceive of. The writing is outstanding, the direction has heart, and it’s really moving & meaningful in ways we don’t often get to see the writing world portrayed. Maybe it helps to be an artist or a writer in terms of whether or not you’ll be as interested in this as I was…I’ll let you decide that for yourselves…but for myself personally, I thought that every moment and morsel of this film was more than worth my time to watch, and inspiring beyond anything I could ever communicate. |
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