Most documentaries wouldn’t make you cry in the first few moments, but sometimes, the source material may land a bit too close to home. Alison Tavel directs Resynator, a very personal documentary that is ultimately about her trying to learn about her father, who died not long after she was born. The exploration is focused on an invention – a revolutionary synthesizer – that he had dreamed of sharing with the world.
Alison works in the music industry, and this seems to spark her interest in exploring her father’s invention a bit more. She tells a story early in the documentary of her being in elementary school and wanting to do a report on him for inventing the synthesizer. Of course, he isn’t listed as the inventor, which unfortunately cools her interest. Now, many years later, finding his Resynator sends her on this journey – and we are along for the ride.
The documentary plays out somewhat like Three Identical Strangers – or, to a lesser extent, Tickled, where the more the filmmaker digs into learning the details, the more surprises seem to await. Tavel learns a great many things about her father throughout the film. What starts as simply wanting to know more about the Resynator slowly turns into the emotional journey of learning about her father.
While the personal story that Tavel is experiencing serves as the film’s emotional backbone, the film offers other forms of entertainment. Thanks to her career in the music industry and her father’s influence before his death, the film has some very cool interviews with a variety of figures. Tavel is a very personable interviewer, and most of the talks are much more conversational than the traditional talking-head style interviews we’ve come to expect from documentaries. This creates an intimate vibe…like we are a part of the film, and it enhances the presence of the emotional elements.
The reality is, however, that this documentary was destined to work for me. Readers of Berkreviews.com over the years will likely know that movies about music or musicians tend to appeal to me. Without getting into any specifics, I’ve had my share of family troubles over the years, which share some common threads to Tavel’s personal search for answers. It was her opening narration of the film that set up what we were in for and immediately got the waterworks running. There are a few other moments in the film that got the tears going again – and it was then that I knew this film would mesh well with my sensibilities.
Resynator debuted at SXSW on March 10.
Rating: Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy.
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