Instrument
Jem Cohen:
Instrument (Italy / USA 1999)
115 min. – Beta – English.
As early as 1990, MacKaye knew his band was in a class of its own. "To exist independent of the mainstream is a political feat," he says to an interviewer. Still, there are some genuinely funny moments where the message is hopelessly lost on the audience (MacKaye booting an obviously drunken teenager out a gig, the band playing a 1990 show at a prison in front of about 10 inmates) or when the band takes great delight in subtly mocking the status quo (MacKaye being interviewed in a lavatory by some slick Canadian MTV knockoff). It ain’t all politics and dead serious staredowns. “Instrument” emphasizes that Fugazi’s members are really no different than the rest of us.
Cohen manages to touch on all of the band’s many facets: Its do-it-yourself aesthetic (MacKaye counting the money after the gigs, the band hauling its own equipment into a venue), the intense concert experience and a very revealing series of shots of fans standing in ticket lines outside shows. The film has an appeal to a casual observer as well as a hardcore devotee.
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Jem Cohen
Jem Cohen was born in Kabul at year 1962. His father was there working for the U.S. Agency for Information and Development. Cohen graduated University of Wesleyan 1984. He has worked for the film industry for ten years in the art department as a technician and prop man. Cohen has commented that majority of these projects he has worked for were a large waste of money. Cohen have made music videos and many music documents. He has worked with many well known artistis including Benjamin, R.E.M, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Patti Smith. Cohen usually directs, shoots and edits his own works. He has also made a feature movie called Chain that premiered in Berlin Film Festival 2004. Cohen has told that his own influences comes mainly from three directors: John Cassavetes, Chris Marker and Jean Vigo.
