The film documents, in an often dramatic and humorous fashion, Gray's investigations into alternative medicine for an eye condition (Macular pucker) he had developed.
האנטומיה של גריי, 그레이스 어네토미, 格雷的剖析
Canada
USA
Canada
USA
my eyesight gets worse and worse as time goes on and i keep accidentally watching movies about people losing their eyesight
Spalding Gray brought his third one man show to the screen with the help of director Steven Soderbergh, exploring how a fateful medical diagnosis led the actor to all kinds of eccentric alternative treatments in his quest to avoid an operation.
Gray was an incredibly charismatic speaker, and that offbeat personality comes across in the unique way this material’s performed. His vivid storytelling style really draws you in, shaping a range of true-life experiences into a quirky (and often bittersweet) personal account.
It’s a credit to Gray’s talent for tale-spinning that he can take seemingly random anecdotes and weave them together so skilfully, bringing all sorts of eccentric places and people to life over this journey. Ultimately this is all…
With Stephen Soderbergh on the verge of retiring from filmmaking, one has to wonder how somebody with such an amount of creative freedom could ever feel uninspired or suffocated by the limitations of their chosen medium. He's the guy who popularized the "one for me, one for them" modus operandi and within it, has seemed to have found his rhythm. In the mid-nineties, Soderbergh faced a similar dilemma in which he overcame an artistic slump by rebuilding himself with two experiments; Schizopolis and Gray's Anatomy. While they both fall under the "one for me" category, Gray's Anatomy is fairly accessible and wholly entertaining as Soderbergh attempts to transform Spalding Gray's squeamish tale of a rare ocular affliction into something resembling…
A formalistic experiment and an interesting career decision. There’s fun here, and parts of the monologue are engaging and well delivered.
Mostly, I just didn’t care and didn’t like the casual racism and general prejudice that creeped in every now and then.
Just go to hospitals, people.
62/100
[It's comforting to occasionally find that I still agree with my own reviews from years past. Nothing much to add to what I wrote (very briefly) on my site in '97, except that I'd completely forgotten about the talking-head segments and would urge documentary filmmakers to study them for tips on how to make those strikingly cinematic.]
If you've seen and enjoyed either or both of the two previous movies adapted from Spalding Gray's monologues, Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, then you're more or less guaranteed to enjoy Gray's Anatomy, which is more of the same. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (taking a break from editing his forthcoming low-budget experimental film, Schizopolis) with equal parts astounding visual…
As someone who went through some serious eye trauma as a child, this particular film was a little uncomfortable, especially at first, with a parade of talking heads setting the stage by telling their various horror stories of things that happened to their eyes--it's not just a gimmick really, as it gets you in the mood and frames Spalding Gray's monologue, about suddenly finding something had gone badly wrong with his eye and flailing about in his life while trying to put off getting surgery to fix it because he didn't like the idea of the surgery--as a fascinating riff on the whole 'bad things happening out of the blue' genre, but aided by Soderburgh's colorful framing of his stories…
“It’s like a Clockwork Orange situation.”
Jesus fucking Harold Christ! Eyes are so fragile! The opening scene is jolting as people who have experienced various eye issues describe those horrific issues in detail. Nice choice Soderbergh. That was sarcasm Soderbergh.
My second Spalding Gray filmed monologue experience. This particular monologue is about his left eye developing a Macular pucker and his search for various methods on how to remedy it. Interesting he was raised Christian scientist, ya know pray it away. I find Spalding funny, entertaining, calming, interesting, and intelligent. I could listen to him tell stories for days. I wish he was still around. 😔
"Over and over....." - Spalding Gray,
-Soderbergh: boxd.it/axqbw
Damn.
Jesus Christ, my eyeballs were feeling phantom pain by the end of this,. Spalding Gray tells a story like almost no other can and while I may not have been as interested in different circumstances, his approach made me feel fucking riveted by Macular Pucker. The direction is slick and this flows really well.
For Soderbergh completionists or people that like a good raconteur.
What a raconteur! Spalding Grey is like a one-man My Dinner With Andre; the vivaciousness of Andre Gregory with the dry wit of Wally Shawn.
Hard to tell if the monologue is doing the heavy lifting or if the filmmaking is truly adding in some invaluable way. Fun and energetic storytelling no less!
