The Book Of Harth [DVD]
(David Greg Harth, John Waters, Kevin Smith, Paul Schrader, et al / DVD / NR / 2024 / MVD Visual)
Overview: For 20 years, conceptual artist David Greg Harth carried a Bible with him every single day, seeking signatures from the most culturally significant people in the world. In The Book of Harth, filmmaker Pierre Guillet follows the artist during the final year of his absurd quest, trailing him to scenes of frenetic celebrity worship.
As Harth secures signatures behind stage doors, in city streets, and on the fringes of red carpets, Guillet cops spontaneous interviews with previous signers, from Noam Chomsky to Kevin Smith. As the last hours of his magnum opus draw to a close, Harth struggles to reconcile the project’s meaning with its personal cost.
DVD Verdict: Succinctly put, The Book Of Harth is the story of a New York City-based conceptual artist who embarks on a 20-year art project asking culturally significant people to sign his copy of The Holy Bible.
An interesting concept, I’m sure we can all agree, and yet one that as much as left of center it really is, still lands on each and every level. In what is a most exhilarating, thought-provoking and wholly a captivating new documentary by director Pierre Guillet, centered around David Greg Harth; a conceptual artist in New York City, we quickly learn that for two whole decades, he actually carried this very same Bible every day, seeking autographs from influential figures, one after the other.
But we don’t follow him for the entire 20 years, moreover we lock onto his journey in his last year where we soon watch along as he approaches abounding celebrities, one after the other. As for where he garners these most wondrous autographs, well, he goes backstage at shows, approaches people on the streets and has even sourced a few from the infamous red carpets.
Here in The Book Of Harth, director Pierre Guillet captures organized meetings along with some rather brilliant, and wholly spontaneous ones (those including such notables as Jennifer Lopez, Aaron Paul, Tom Hiddleston, Charlize Theron, and more), that tracked this final year of autograph hunting, and intersperses new interviews with prior signers; such as Noam Chomsky and Kevin Smith.
But what comes as a genuine surprise is, and just as Harth’s self-inflicted journey comes to an end, how he begins to seriously rethink/overthink is original onset reasoning for having embarked on such a journey, and therein the significance of it and the personal toll it has taken on him.
Highlighting a couple of stand out quotes and moments from within this brilliant documentary, artist Wim Delvoye, asked about the project’s significance, remarks If you’re not in his Bible, it’s a bit embarrassing, and it is pointed it, nay highlighted, that back in May 2016, Harth reached out to then President Obama, but his associates responded with a voicemail, citing scheduling conflicts, and so the great man never got to be added to the Bible.
In closing, and as much as all the ongoing stories are amazing, one and all, we also learn that the Bible itself tracks back to an origin of having been purchased before a U2 concert in Las Vegas (as Harth wanted more than a piece of paper for the band’s signatures) and, obviously, all of its twenty years of manhandling (and dropsy) means that its wear and tear is as much a testament to its dutiful journey as it is to its heartfelt creation.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary featuring Director Pierre Guillet and Subject David Greg Harth
Deleted Scenes with Bruce Springsteen, John Williams, O.J. Simpson, Andrew Cuomo, Stevie Wonder, Michael J. Fox, Julian Assange
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