Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields

Screening and discussion with Gonson and Fix, Sat., Nov. 13, 5:30 p.m., $15, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 267-402-2055, firstpersonarts.org.


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Published: Nov 10, 2010

[ documentary ]

Though this film fits the documentary portion of First Person Arts' "memoir and documentary" mission, Magnetic Fields prime mover Stephin Merritt is memoir's antipode. The droopy dog/sad clown of modern American songcraft has been obstinate about the fact that his songs — even those on 2004's I — are defiantly non-autobiographical. But if Merritt's been opaque where his personal life is concerned, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara's decade-in-the-works documentary, Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields, throws back the curtain on the curmudgeonly mastermind to reveal, yes, a dour intellectual who suffers fools ungladly, but also a fragile savant who seems at times incapable of navigating his world without the help of longtime friend/bandmate/manager/"fag hag" Claudia Gonson. The film reveals Merritt's formative years in Massachusetts, the forming of the band's quintessential lineup, as well as a bizarre Internet flap wherein Merritt was briefly misbranded a racist due to irresponsible blog coverage of a panel discussion wherein Merritt praised "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." The doc's arc feels incomplete, ending abruptly with a move to Los Angeles, but as an examination of a reclusive genius and his particular methods, Strange Powers is enchanting.

Screening and discussion with Gonson and Fix, Sat., Nov. 13, 5:30 p.m., $15, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 267-402-2055, firstpersonarts.org.