The saying goes that most documentary magic happens in the editing room. That’s an understatement for Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place, a found footage documentary assembled by Alex Gibney and Alison Ellwood. Magic Trip takes us back to the cross-country road trip taken by Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters in their psychedelically painted bus, interchangeably called “Further” or “Furthur.” The trip was immortalized in Tom Wolfe’s pioneering work of New Journalism, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Fresh off the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey took the book’s proceeds to […]
by Daniel James Scott on Aug 14, 2011[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, Jan. 28, 3:00 pm — Temple Theatre] We initially thought that the film would be more conventional — the usual talking heads reflecting on the past. However, there was something so magical about the footage that cutting away from it to interviews of distant memories seemed wrong. Better, we discovered, to create a kind of archival immersion experience in which the footage would either live on its own or be commented upon by audio-tape recordings of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters themselves. Many of these recordings were made closer to the time of the actual bus […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 28, 2011