Documentary Now! Review: Waiting For the Artist (Season 3 Episode 4)
On Documentary Now! Season 3 Episode 4, “Waiting For the Artist,” a mesmerizing performance from Cate Blanchett elevates a slow and peculiar episode of the comedy series.
The joke of placing Cate Blanchett as Izabella into utterly absurd art installations and acts is a perfect visual gag in the beginning; “Domesticated” (pictured below) is a favorite for its silliness.
The limits of the joke, however, is that it can only be done for so long before becoming repetitive. The episode relies on Blanchett as a frustrated artist, perhaps with her best days behind her, and strings together a more melancholic, meditative look on the life of her as an artist.
“Waiting For the Artist,” then, is a little slower than previous episodes of the season.
The episode spends a lot of time building toward something while retrospectively looking back, leaving a feeling of stretching rather than stepping forward. It also faces the problem of never quite understanding Izabella beyond her art, which, while on purpose, leaves a little to be desired.
It’s at its best, however, when delving into the relationship Izabella and Fred Armisen’s Dimo have. The strange give and take, mostly take, of their partnership and love affair speaks volumes about the two characters.
Cate Blanchett in the lead goes very far, and her performance is endlessly fascinating to watch here. The short bursts of Izabella’s archival art footage are mostly entertaining, and her indecision on the final show does add some clever lines of dialogue.
The twist, of Izabella’s pain being what she wants the world to see when in reality she is in control the whole time, is a really great way to change everything we see up to this point.
It also leads to one of the more genius moments of the episode, of Dimo falling into a phallic sack to make him the art statement. Both the image and the look of deep satisfaction on Blanchett’s face is such a fantastic resolution.
Much like Documentary Now! Season 3 Episode 3, “Original Cast Album: Co-Op,” “Waiting For the Artist” becomes a strange voice of uplifting the world it’s poking fun at. There’s a love for obscure and heady art installations in here, despite the jokes.
The love for the subject comes through the bizarre performance arts having actual meaning, despite their goofiness, and through the loving portrayal of Izabella and her struggle with her art. The episode never loses sight of what’s important, even if a little slow and lumbering.
The style of the documentary is interesting in its use of quick cuts of a series of photographs to elicit emotion when linked together.
One particular instance is in the heartbreak of Izabella in the dissolution of her love with Dimo, showing Blanchett in total anguish over multiple pictures.
The more straightforward pieces of the documentary style tell of a present-day artist stricken by a mental block, through typical talking heads and following the set-up of the final art show. The episode does well in portraying the events as genuine, like it all happened decades ago.
“Waiting For the Artist” is still, despite the star power and clever comments on the art world, a little light for an episode of Documentary Now. Cate Blanchett doing crazy things and a smart ending can do a lot, but it feels as though there is a little something extra missing.
What did you think of this episode of Documentary Now? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Documentary Now! airs Wednesdays at 11/10c on IFC.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.