Tuesday, September 1st, 2009  The Painter Sam Francis, a film by
Jeffrey Perkins  ‘The Painter Sam Francis’ 85 minutes Shot on
16mm, Super 8, Hi-8, DV ©2008 Body and Soul Productions  Showing
at Anthology Film Archives, New York, through September 17
poster for the film under review.  poster for the film under
review.  The film biography “The Painter Sam Francis” might be
better called “What Happened to Sam Francis?” It reinforces all
the standard cliché’s of the outsized artist’s life. His first
ex-wife, Muriel Goodwin, comments on Sam Francis’ extraordinary
vitality. Elaine Anderson, in her English accent, recounts,
“Many women were his muses”. The artist, in semi-recline, refers
to himself as a magician or as Merlin caught in the brambles.
His cosmologies and his personal failings intertwine. The artist
was interested in alchemy. He goes to a Jungian analyst. He
utilizes his dreams in his work. He finds that fame makes you
miserable. His daughter observes that he did not know how to be
a father to his chi