John Cage: I Have Nothing To Say, and I Am Saying It. / A Skin Too Few, The Days of Nick Drake

(John Cage: I Have Nothing To Say, and I Am Saying It. / A Skin Too Few, The Days of Nick Drake)
Allan Miller / Jeroen Berkvens, 1990
103 min

The late experimental composer John Cage takes us on a journey to a world where sounds and even the absence of sounds fill the space of time. He also takes us to the forest to pick mushrooms and then to his kitchen. The performance "events" that Cage engineers with a diverse cast of musicians are remarkable for their lack of pretension and collaborative engagement with his audience. Director Allan Miller offers an intimate view of a man with a deep classical knowledge of music, yet who prefers abstraction and new perspectives on the familiar. It is his Zen-based philosophy that every day is a beautiful day, that we should get rid of our biases and prejudices and "look at nature in her manner of operation." / 'I always say that Nick was born with a skin too few' , tells actress Gabrielle about her brother, the English singer-songwriter Nick Drake (1948-1974). It took twenty posthumous years for his music to gain recognition. The documentary 'A Skin Too Few' approaches the silent landscapes, locations, people and music in the life of this unorthodox loner in the hope of understanding his state of mind. Nick Drake is one of rock's most tragically romantic figure. There were only 26 years between his birth and his death: a time span that for many would be far too short to develop a talent, or realize an ambition or dream. Nick Drake captured time, beauty, loss, and wistful desires with precision in subtle songs.