Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents

2015

1h 27m

Documentary

Music

List

75%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

The history of the group and the mystery surrounding it.

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Stuffed with rare footage from early promo films, proto-music videos, and concert clips, with interviews from collaborators and acolytes alike, the documentary, like the band, refuses to solve the riddles your average viewer would likely be most interested in, while answering questions you never knew needed asking in the first place.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The main reaction I had to this documentary about The Residents is a wish that the band had made the film themselves. But, of course, they may have, because director Don Hardy appears to have had access to a lot of presumably unseen footage from the early years of the 40-year-old band and members of the Cryptic Corporation (that oversee the business dealings of the band) were actively involved in editing and in front of the camera. Of course, we still don't know who the Residents actually are - but some of the old guys being interviewed sure seem to know a lot about their history. My regret is not really with the content shown (which is often truly weird) but instead with the rather formulaic approach taken here - this is really just another one of those music docos where you've got talking heads (including with fans/accomplices) interspersed with short clips of the band playing. There are some great clips but they never show you enough. Why can't the makers of these types of documentaries understand that fans would really want to see an entire song? Especially in the case of the Residents where the visual and multimedia aspects of their show are so astonishing! There are a couple of songs from the Commercial Album played on the 2013 fortieth anniversary tour that do run their full (short) length but that tour seems stripped down in comparison to earlier tours. Of course, if the band's output really is 60 albums (plus all sorts of other ephemera), then no single 90-minute film is going to be able to do justice to any one aspect of their career. But we do learn a lot about those eyeballs. Check their records, folks!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Documentary has not revealed anything new. Most of this info has been available for many years. I would have liked an album by album making of and how they created those videos.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A great documentary about The Residents- fantastic footage, high caliber interviews and just the right sense of humor. Those who are looking for an expose will be disappointed (though I feel like you can draw some reasonably intelligent conclusions if you're looking), this is really more of a love letter to the band, or perhaps even a great introduction. The Residents can be hard to stomach sometimes, and even then I've found a lot of their digital work hasn't aged terribly well, but Hardy does a great job of editing down and keeping the pace up and interest/energy high.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Well now - The Residents may just be the most important artists and musicians of the last 50 or so years. They also may not exist or be the same people who started out as The Residents. And this film - Theory of Obscurity is a very good place to begin to find out about their art. It is not really a history of The Residents but The Residents from different perspectives and why they matter so much. It is never less than fascinating and at times extraordinary. And the DVD has some of their marvellous films - what we would now call videos - except that doesn't really do them justice. Thoroughly recommended to anyone who care about art, music and has a pulse.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/theory-of-obscurity-film-about.html

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Don Hardy Jr.

Director

Jerry Casale

Actor

Les Claypool

Actor

Chris Combs

Actor

Nolan Cook

Actor

Matt Groening

Actor

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Josh Rosenblatt

Austin Chronicle

The task of parsing the meaning behind all their conceptual madness is left to a small but faithful army of fans, who speak lovingly of the band's devotion to art at the expense of commercial success.

May 18, 2016

Full Review

John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

Stuffed with examples of the nose-thumbing spirit that has sustained their popularity despite the bandmates' refusal to reveal their individual identities, the film is a fine primer for the curious.

May 18, 2016

Full Review

Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

We hear statements of admiration for the band from such longtime fans as Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) and "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. But there is precious little context or critical thinking to make one truly care.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 17, 2016

Full Review

Dave Segal

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Theory of Obscurity revels in the paradox of this most notorious band of unknowns while poking at the embers of the myth.

Aug 22, 2017

Full Review

Giovanni Fazio

Japan Times

Theory of Obscurity is loaded with clips from The Residents' deranged promo films and shows, and makes a case for them as innovators of the music video format.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 28, 2017

Full Review

Marty Mapes

Movie Habit

Music documentary offers exposure to The Residents, but it's mostly for fans

Jan 3, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

The history of the group and the mystery surrounding it.

Director: Don Hardy Jr.
Producer: Yoshifumi Okuyama
Screenwriter: Don Hardy Jr.
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2017
Runtime: 1h 27m

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