Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

Matt Wolf's 2008 documentary is about the composer and musician Arthur Russell. Russell worked in several worlds at once: New York's avant-garde music circle, the disco clubs, and the cello-based songs he made on his own. When he died of AIDS in 1992 most of his recordings were unreleased. The documentary's strength is showing why these fields were not separate for Russell. Working in the same circle as Philip Glass while releasing a disco record in the same year was a stance that recognised no boundary of the period, and it explains why his career never settled commercially. Wolf speaks with Russell's family in Iowa and with his long-term partner Tom Lee. Because the archive is limited the film uses reconstruction and images of empty spaces in places. Russell's recordings were reissued years after his death, and that renewed interest is where the documentary began. Who it's for: those interested in experimental music and the New York scene of the seventies and eighties. Who it's not for: viewers wanting comprehensive musical analysis; the documentary is short and stays on the personal side.