Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell Screening

Arthur Russell was a visionary artist who melded avant-garde cello and dance music to create mutant disco, and who left behind an inimitable, prolific body of work when he died in 1992, aged only 40, due to AIDS complications. Here, filmmaker Matt Wolf creates a tender portrait of Russell's life, from his youth on the prairies to his time in the San Francisco communes of the '70s and the wilds of bohemian New York. Interviews and footage of peers and collaborators such as Steven Hall, Allen Ginsberg and Lola Love, who speak about his perfectionism and energy, are interspersed with dreamy imagery that perfectly fits with Russell's sound. However, it's the intimate, heartbreaking moments with Russell's parents and partner Tom Lee that really sink in deep.

This is a rare documentary that's just as much for fans as it is total newcomers. Wild Combination has an aura of genuine warmth and celebration of its subject without ever failing its own sense of authenticity and honesty.

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Rating: M

Director: Matt Wolf

Runtime: 71 min

Language: English