First things first: for those unfamiliar with the work of Pulitzer Prize winning poet CK Williams, the following may be helpful – 'CK Williams is especially known as an original stylist; his characteristic line is extraordinarily long, almost prose-like, and emphasizes characterization and dramatic development. His early work focused on overtly political issues such as the Vietnam War and social injustice. In his later work, Williams has shifted from a documentary style toward a more introspective approach, writing descriptive poems that reveal the states of alienation, deception, and occasional enlightenment that exist between public and private lives in modern urban America.' That this film is a project created by James Franco's class is another aspect of Franco's individuality in exploring all aspects of the arts. That it will not find a large audience is not so much the film as the concept that few viewers wish to become involved in a small introspective experimental film, preferring the big epics and apocalyptic ventures and coarse humor movies as escapes form reality. James Franco is a unique actor – quite gifted and wiling to take on difficult biographies (he has portrayed Allen Ginsberg, Hart Crane and others). Give him credit for paying homage to CK Williams.
The Color of Time is based on Pulitzer prize-winning poet CK Williams' collection of the same name. The film blends together adaptations of 11 of the poems to create a poetic road trip through CK William's life. The film takes us on a journey through several decades of American life from CK's childhood and adolescence in Detroit in the 1940s and 50s to the early 1980s: CK and his wife Catherine are married with their son Jed. CK prepares for a reading of 'Tar' in New York City, and spends his nights struggling to write new poems, haunted by memories of his past. As CK drives to his reading in New York City, he remembers central moments of his life: we come to experience and understand both his relationship to love and loss, and how he found his calling as a poet through the women in his life. The film takes us back and forth between past and present, punctuated by voice-over from CK Williams' poems, recreating the experience of memory and exploring how the fragments of one's man life can be turned into poetic expression: his loving relationship to his mother, his first sexual experiences as a teenager, his first love and the struggle to preserve a form of innocence and wonder, the illness and loss of a close friend, and finally his life together with Catherine.
The cast, though not individually used extensively includes Franco as CK Williams, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff, Henry Hopper, Bruce Campell among many other bit parts. The music by Garth Neustadter and Daniel Wohl, contributes significantly and for a class project the 'directors and writers' deliver a moody quiet exploration of the genius of CK Williams. A bit of understanding on the part of the audience will result in a gently ekphrastic exercise.
The Color of Time is based on Pulitzer prize-winning poet CK Williams' collection of the same name. The film blends together adaptations of 11 of the poems to create a poetic road trip through CK William's life. The film takes us on a journey through several decades of American life from CK's childhood and adolescence in Detroit in the 1940s and 50s to the early 1980s: CK and his wife Catherine are married with their son Jed. CK prepares for a reading of 'Tar' in New York City, and spends his nights struggling to write new poems, haunted by memories of his past. As CK drives to his reading in New York City, he remembers central moments of his life: we come to experience and understand both his relationship to love and loss, and how he found his calling as a poet through the women in his life. The film takes us back and forth between past and present, punctuated by voice-over from CK Williams' poems, recreating the experience of memory and exploring how the fragments of one's man life can be turned into poetic expression: his loving relationship to his mother, his first sexual experiences as a teenager, his first love and the struggle to preserve a form of innocence and wonder, the illness and loss of a close friend, and finally his life together with Catherine.
The cast, though not individually used extensively includes Franco as CK Williams, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff, Henry Hopper, Bruce Campell among many other bit parts. The music by Garth Neustadter and Daniel Wohl, contributes significantly and for a class project the 'directors and writers' deliver a moody quiet exploration of the genius of CK Williams. A bit of understanding on the part of the audience will result in a gently ekphrastic exercise.