Jeremy Workman tells a lovely story in this film. Al Carbee was an "outsider artist", an old Maine hermit, who created oddly beautiful and elaborate dioramas with Barbie dolls, then photographing them and creating collages. His work was visually interesting and really quite compelling. This is a strangely moving and compassionate film about an interesting artist and man, and the relationships he forges in his later years, and is a meditation on making and the development of an artist through stages of life. The soundtrack is beautiful. Photography by John Monroe captures some of the sense of the mystery and amazement of meeting Al for the first time.
Review of Magical Universe
