If the Serial podcast taught us anything about detective work, it's that the truth is built of conflicting subjective accounts of what actually happened. Documenting reality and experiencing reality are two different things, and I'm one of these people who believes it's borderline impossible not to be subjective in one way or another. You know who agrees with me? Jared fuckin' Leto. In 2013, he released a documentary titled ARTIFACT about his band's legal battle with EMI that's awesomely subjective. Aside from the fact that I think his music is garbage, I do think Leto's an interesting cat and this strange, enigmatic and oh-so-angry documentary puts his music on the backseat of his creative process. The end product is both fascinating, hilarious and rather informative. It's a success for all the right and the wrong reasons.
Jared Leto's band 30 Seconds to Mars once was a side project to his successful acting career, but it's not the case anymore. They have tapped into the zeitgest of teenie weenies and young adults with their album A BEAUTIFUL LIE and they've been rock stars ever since. The band hasn't been doing very well financially though, thanks to a slave contract they signed was EMI/Virgin at the dawn of their career. During the recording of their third album THIS IS WAR, 30 Seconds to Mars used an old California law mentionning you can't be under contract for more than 7 years to try and break free from it. A whopping 30 million dollars lawsuit ensued, which happened to give birth to ARTIFACT, a tale of human struggle seen through the technicolor goggles of Jared Leto.
ARTIFACT was kind of awesome, although I believe my reasons to love it were dubious. I've never seen a documentary where reality was more staged. Everything in ARTIFACT is studied and every scene is carefully ''displayed'' except maybe the interactions with EMI. Among my favourite moments were random burst of incomprehensible spontaneity that popped out of nowhere (collective laughter, joyfully overreacting to everyday victories) and the awesome L.A Skyline scenes.
In one scene, Leto and his brother Shannon drive to a high point of Los Angeles to do that psychological exercise where you throw a rock that symbolizes your frustrations and let go of your negative feelings. There is like 5 or 6 scenes that happen IN THE SAME EXACT PLACE afterwards, supposedly much later in the timeline. It felt like watching one of the Barney Stinson-narrated stories in HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER at times.
In one scene, Leto and his brother Shannon drive to a high point of Los Angeles to do that psychological exercise where you throw a rock that symbolizes your frustrations and let go of your negative feelings. There is like 5 or 6 scenes that happen IN THE SAME EXACT PLACE afterwards, supposedly much later in the timeline. It felt like watching one of the Barney Stinson-narrated stories in HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER at times.
I have a silly hat. Love me. Look! L.A Skyline!
I loved every second of ARTIFACT nonetheless, because it didn't feel disingenuous to me at all. I mean, that lawsuit happened and everything in the documentary pretty much happened the way Jared Leto says it. He just narrates the story in an incredibly sexy way (Bartholomew Cubbins, director of ARTIFACT is an alias of Leto) and he's in his right to do so. Isn't it what everybody does when they're telling a story anyway? Draw themselves as the underdog, the good guy getting fucked over? If I and everybody I know do that, why can't Jared Leto, right? If anything, that unique, essayist stance on documentary made him more sympathetic to me, more like the people I know and hang out with everyday.
ARTIFACT pushed the concept of essayism in documentary to new heights. It's a little self-centered but it's done for the sake of entertainment. It also does its ''documentary'' job in exposing the shortcomings of the music industry. ARTIFACT gives you a clear portrait of why it's been falling apart since the inception of Napster at the turn of the millenium. It just has the glitter and the flare of a pro wrestling gimmick, which is ultimately OK. ARTIFACT pushes the boundaries of reality in documentary cinema but what it presents is still reality. Jared Leto just happens to be awesome at narrating it through his thoroughly unique lense.
ARTIFACT pushed the concept of essayism in documentary to new heights. It's a little self-centered but it's done for the sake of entertainment. It also does its ''documentary'' job in exposing the shortcomings of the music industry. ARTIFACT gives you a clear portrait of why it's been falling apart since the inception of Napster at the turn of the millenium. It just has the glitter and the flare of a pro wrestling gimmick, which is ultimately OK. ARTIFACT pushes the boundaries of reality in documentary cinema but what it presents is still reality. Jared Leto just happens to be awesome at narrating it through his thoroughly unique lense.