In May of 2024, director Gary Hustwit, did a screening of his latest documentary, Eno, which is about the artist Brian Eno, here in Chicago. I’ve been a fan of Eno for as long as I can remember. I discovered his music early into my teenage years and his body of work, including solo albums, collaborations, paintings, and experiments, all left a lasting impression that to this day continues to inspire much of what I do.
With that said, I was excited when I learned about this new documentary and being familiar with Hustwit’s previous documentaries, I was confident this would be great — which it was but also, it wasn’t. What was great was the unseen footage of Eno, his stories and most importantly, his narrative and commentary. My favorite scenes were of Eno playing back old tape recordings and laughing at his younger self and also of Eno in his studio searching his favorite songs on YouTube and being interrupted by YouTube advertisements to which he responds with a middle finger directed at his computer. It’s lighthearted, intimate, and personal moments like this that were the highlight of the film… As a viewer, and I can only assume, many other Eno fans, would have preferred more of this as well. Even if it were a mini-series running multiple hours, or even a 3+ hour documentary.
I’d like to add that this film was crafted using proprietary Generative AI created specifically for this film. And if there is any artist that is most worthy of innovative technology, it would be Brian Eno — but for an informational documentary about his life as an artist, Generative AI seems like a poor collaborative tool. Fans after all, want to see all the footage. I don’t care about how you made the film. If Eno were followed around and recorded with an iPhone, that would be perfectly fine. Generative AI used as a primary or even secondary method for filmmaking seems like a pure gimmick.
Sure, Eno used generative technology for his music but the difference between his music and this documentary is that a documentary transmits information and a narrative — where Eno‘s music has always been about surrendering to the process and leaving the listener to arrive at their own interpretations of the music. Eno mentioned during the film that his music has been both used as a coping agent for detoxing (David Bowie listened to Discreet Music when attempting to become sober), women giving birth, and for myself, I’ve used Eno’s albums, Reflection, and Thursday Afternoon for sleep. That is the beauty (sometimes) of using generative technology for art, is that it produces artistic outcomes and often stylistic choices…
However… this documentary about Eno comes nothing close to ever even being on the same page as Eno‘s generative work. The interstitial moments throughout the film that showcased code (aka generative AI working in the background) in between sections of the film were empty of soul. It is like taking your car to the car shop and sitting there watching the mechanic change your oil. Is it interesting? Maybe the first time but after a while you kinda lose interest in seeing how the whole thing “works”. Maybe if as you watched your car being worked on, something interesting or soothing occurred, like your favorite tea being served to you or your favorite song playing or perhaps every time you pick up your car after the service, there is a nice surprise waiting for you in the passenger seat. That would be nice. Wouldn’t it? This documentary’s use of generative AI offered none of that — no surprises, no joy, nothing remotely interesting other than choosing which clip plays next — similar to playing a playlist on shuffle or better, the iPod Shuffle from back in the day — remember those? When you play music on shuffle, are you interested in how Spotify or Apple Music is determining what plays next? No — you don’t care because it does not matter.
Additionally, the screening I saw missed my favorite parts of Eno’s work, such as his projects with Cluster, Harmonia, Karl Hyde, and many more… I wanted to hear those stories and perhaps they exist in some other screening which will be up to the (damn) AI to concoct.
With that said, I left the documentary feeling disappointed. Would I watch it again? Sure… But actually maybe not. I don’t think I would. Maybe if all the footage was released and I could be the (intelligence) that chooses which scenes to show, then a definite yes — but till then, I think artificial intelligence will continue to bastardize and water down creativity and human soul.
I’ve loved every other film Hustwit has done, but for Brian Eno, I think something much much much much more interesting was deserved. The end.