Henry Miller: Prophet of Desire (2017)

*Watch "Henry Miller: Prophet of Desire" (AKA "Henry Miller") on Amazon Prime Video here
*Get a copy of The Books in My Life by Henry Miller on Amazon here
*Get a copy of Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller on Amazon here
*Get a copy of Henry Miller on Writing by Henry Miller on Amazon here

I've read one book written by Henry Miller- The Books in My Life, a rambling but interesting tome about Miller's literary influences and recommendations (I'm obsessed with other people's personal libraries). After watching this short documentary about Miller, I wished I had kept that book for insight into Miller's thinking- something this film does not accomplish.

Miller was the son of German immigrants, born in New York City in 1891. He had a difficult relationship with his parents, especially his mother, who rarely (if ever) showed Henry any parental affection. He began to rebel, and wanted to leave not only New York City, but the United States. He traveled to Paris, and lived an impoverished life, writing some scandalous novels that would eventually be banned in the United States and Great Britain.

Miller's writings were sexually explicit, but as the documentary illustrates, he was not a sexual deviant (in his friends' and family's eyes). He was married five times, always pursuing an ideal love that he never received from his mother. When he would find a woman he wanted, he put her on a pedestal, although these very human women would have flaws that would disappoint Miller, and he would move on to his next pursuit. He blamed his German heritage for staying the course in his early life, never straying from the path that he must take to get ahead in the world, despite a curiosity that would overwhelm him. He would eventually die in Los Angeles in 1980 at the age of 88.

Gero von Hoehm assembles a somewhat interesting piece that is maddeningly short. No quotations are taken from any of Miller's work, and the result feels like a filmed encyclopedia article. Footage is taken from earlier documentaries, and this made me want to seek those out instead. Henry Miller was a difficult man to get to "know" through the film medium, despite the interviews with his friends, biographer, and son as well as some infamous film adaptations of his infamous novels and life ("Tropic of Cancer," "Quiet Days in Clichy," and "Henry & June").

Much like his book on writing, I started to see parallels between Miller's life and my own. I am very private about my upbringing and family life, but Miller kicked the doors of propriety open and wrote what he wanted, when he wanted (in addition to his fiction, his correspondence and letters were literally voluminous). It takes a great writer to bring that out in a reader; a desire to be silenced no more now that familial censors are no longer with us, wondering "what will everyone think?". This documentary tries, but ends up middling. It's interesting that some of the footage in the trailer below is not featured in the documentary, unless there is a longer version out there somewhere. Also known as "Henry Miller."

Stats:
(2017) 53 min. (* * 1/2) out of five stars
-Written and Directed by Gero von Boehm
-Featuring Henry Miller, Erica Jong, Tom Schiller, Georg Stefan Troller, Tony Miller, Arthur Hoyle, Brassai, Anais Nin, Barbara Kraft
Not Rated- contains strong profanity, strong nudity, some sexual content, strong sexual references, adult situations, alcohol and tobacco use