As Might Be Expected in a Film About an Avant-Garde Musician, ‘Eno’ Comes With a Twist
To help convince Brian Eno to participate, director Gary Hustwit and a colleague, Brendan Dawes, invented a software system that allowed for ‘a film [that] can continue to change and evolve over the coming months and years.’
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In the tradition of “Percepto” and “Odorama,” director Gary Hustwit’s “Eno” comes with a gimmick. Granted, it’s unlike that used for William Castle’s “The Tingler” (1959), wherein buzzers were applied to selected seats in movie theaters in order to simulate the sensation caused by the title monster. Nor is it like the scratch-and-sniff card that accompanied John Waters’s “Polyester” (1981), a cinematic aid meant to embellish the film’s mise en scène. Mr. Hustwit’s gimmick is less kitschy but just as conducive to the film’s subject.
Brian Eno is a musician whose contributions to the broader culture will be familiar even if you’re not sure how to place the name. He was a founding member of the glam rock outfit Roxy Music, and a collaborative producer who’s worked with musicians like John Cale, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Devo, Paul Simon, and U2. Mr. Eno’s backlog of solo albums is impressive. So, too, is his ability to synthesize a daunting array of prescribed adjectives into a three-second sound — that is to say, the opening chime of Windows 95.
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