Change Your Image
davidquantick-1
Reviews
Fat Man on a Beach (1973)
absurdist and touching documentary/tribute to extraordinary man
Fat Man On A Beach is the longest filmed record we have of BS Johnson, the experimental novelist and pugilistic personality. As befits Johnson's disdain for the usual conventions, this "documentary' follows none of the TV rules of the time. Instead, the movie consists entirely of the novelist walking around on a beach, making observations about life, film and bananas, and shows him at his chirpiest and most likable. It's very funny indeed, funny being an aspect of Johnson that often gets neglected in the debate about his work (his book, Christy Malry's Own Double Entry, is one of the few novels of its kind that would make a cat laugh). But even for people who have never come across Johnson's brilliant novels, or Jonathan Coe's recent biography Like A Fiery Elephant, this film would still be a unique and engaging piece of work. Someone really should put it out on DVD.