★★★★
The life and career of acting teacher and co-founder/director of the American Place Theater, Wynn Handman.
Classification: 12
An insightful and comprehensive documentary capturing the spirit and respect of one of the American theatres most pioneering figures. It Takes a Lunatic is not only a biographical account of Wynn Handman's career as teacher and director but an essential reminder that artistic progress can only be achieved through bravely travelling into the unknown. Handman was a founding member and artistic director of The American Place Theater, which prioritised creativity over profits and became a venue for all types of new voices. Handman's inclusive nature saw works from African American playwrights finally find audiences along with Asian-American and female playwrights having their own unique stories heard. Billy Lyons' film is a reflection on how Handman's artistic vision paved the way for many prominent actors and writers in modern American theatre and film.
Lyons's structuring of the documentary is quite traditional, incorporating an obscene amount of interviews, archival footage, press reports, alongside captured footage of Handman still teaching his revered acting class well into his 90s. Both connoisseur and curious viewer are spoiled by how the film curates its history and delivers an engrossing account into Wynn Handman's iconic career. Just about every interview with every writer and actor is accompanied by photographs and footage from the American Place Theatre. Frank Langella would speak of his role in "The Old Glory" and how he knew Wynn and why the play was such a revolution on the theatre scene but Lyons would go a step further and play scenes from the actual performance. It's not just famous people recounting the glory days, Lyons' direction allows for all this unspoken history to be shared and celebrated in modern contexts.
With the breadth of access from Handman's former students and co-workers, the interviews blend together as each can't say enough about how much they respect and owe to Wynn Handman. Lyons' doesn't deliver the entire story chronologically, having each section inform the next and then revisiting areas with the new information. The film opens with stories about Wynn's acting class, a class he still teaches to this day, in the same space and with the same style, a watch still hanging from the wall. Many actors and actresses including Michael Douglas, Richard Gere, and James Cann all speak to how Handman approached teaching was distinctive to any other teacher. Handman was supportive and encouraging and always sought truth in the performance, having his students perform their scenes in various ways to find their rhythm. Later interviews revealed that Handman still taught his class when running American Place, and would give his most ambitious students the chance to be seen on his stage such as John Leguizamo or Aasif Mandvi.
Handman's whole history is explored within the documentary to show what type of man would be considered a "lunatic" and how he became one who used his position to bolster the voices of those who had no platform. Interviews attribute World War II in being a monumental influence on Handman's world views and understanding of himself. It Takes a Lunatic follows cues from this year's earlier The Black Godfather which allows the subject to be built up by other interviews and stories but has the film focus on the man himself reckoning with his legacy. Handman's interview in his old age are very insightful, he has a firm grasp on what he believes and the film captures his insight and philosophies into art and life brilliantly. His experiences in the war and early life feed into his career as he takes on new forms of plays from George Tabori, Ronald Ribman, and Ed Bullins. The section of the documentary where Handman recounts his experiences in producing Tabori's play The Cannibals in both New York and Berlin being especially moving.
Even though Handman's the subject of the film neither he or Lyons makes the successes of American Place or the acting class solely down to Wynn. They both understand the collaborative nature of creation and never lose sight in telling the stories of those that Handman worked with. It Takes a Lunatic is indicative of Handman's career of using his own platform to give attention to some of the mediums greatest voices. There is so much to learn from the documentary from both historical and artistic and just how vital it is for those who commission art to take chances. American Place gave a chance to so many to stories that had never been heard before for audiences that wanted to hear them, Handman's structure bypassed critics entirely and catered to a subscriber base that hungered for a new form of theatre. His patronage to this work spawned not only illustrious careers but other similar ventures such as the Women's Project Theater which champions works by female playwrights and directors.
When the documentary concludes whether you've heard of the work mentioned or not you are desperate to witness them. Lyons creates this amazing time capsule of art and creativity that would be possible without Handman's risk-taking attitude. His vision for the American Place Theatre branded him as the "lunatic" a man who would give the strangest and newest voices an audience, welcome failure and the lessons that came with it and built a community of artists and audiences that would collaborate in this new forms of American theatre. It says a lot about a society that Handman would be considered absurd for these ideas but the film is an amazing celebration of that vision and the courage it takes to create something original. For all the artists, writers, actors, fans of film and theatre let Handman's story be an important reminder that playing it safe never changed anything and that if it takes a lunatic to create something magnificent, then be that lunatic.
"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness" - Aristotle
Director: #BillyLyons
Release Date: October 25th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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