Harlan Ellison – Dreams With Sharp Teeth (2007)
Documentary by Erik Nelson
With Robin Williams, Neil Gaiman, Ron Moore and others
Studio: Docuramafilms [www.docurama.com]
Video: 16:9 & 4:3
Audio: DD stereo
Extras: 80 minutes, incl. Six readings by Harlan Ellison, Pizza with Ellison and Neil Gaiman, The film’s premiere event
Feature Length: 96 minutes
Rating: *****
Fans of the writer some critics consider one of the best of the 20th century, as well as fans of sci-fi literature will eat up this documentary. For the rest, it should be noted that Ellison has written over 1700 classics of both fiction and non-fiction, and more than 75 books; that he authored the most popular Star Trek episode ever (City on the Edge of Forever), was involved in the excellent TV series Babylon Five, and is responsible for some of the most iconic short stories in American literature – including “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktock Man, and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.
To do an interesting bio documentary one must have a fascinating subject in front of one’s camera, and Ellison is certainly that in spades. He is caustic, often politically incorrect, highly critical of those that don’t meet his standards, and seems to get so confrontational about everything around him that those close to him fear the 72-year-old (at time of filming) will have a heart attack. However, he is also hilariously funny and shouts out things that some of us may have thought but have never dared to speak. The lovable curmudgeon relates well to close friends such as Robin Williams – to whom he admits that among his many famous confrontations was the mailing of a dead gopher to a publisher. But he strongly denies ever throwing someone down an elevator shaft. He’s a born storyteller, in print or verbally, and makes most anything interesting. He has great fun shooting verbal missiles at his various targets, including himself.
This is far from a formal biography of the author, and that’s what makes it a delight to watch. It uses footage going back to his difficult childhood and even reveals a couple of tear-jerking moments amidst his general misanthropic but humorous attitudes about most everything. There are TV interviews from the 60s in which Ellison reminded me of a cross between Dick Cavett and Hugh Hefner. Among his other achievements (including upping to 700 Robin Williams’ comment that Ellison had bedded about 500 women) was walking beside Martin Luther King at the Selma demonstration. It would be hard to believe that viewers of this unique documentary wouldn’t be stimulated to rush out and read or re-read some of Ellison’s Dreams With Sharp Teeth.
By the way, this DVD comes from a unique movie distributor: Docuramafilms is the only one which specializes in documentary films! Their slogan is “Everything else is pure fiction.” Check out their web site.
– John Sunier
