Eno: 'stimulating and cerebral' documentary that's never the same twice

How do you capture in a conventional documentary "the mercurial character, the elastic creativity and the prolific and endlessly inventive output of an artist such as Brian Eno"? 

The answer "is that you can't", said Wendy Ide in The Observer. So rather than follow the standard rock star documentary format, and provide a "dutiful plod through talking-head interviews and archive footage", director Gary Hustwit came up with something entirely novel: a film that is different every time. 

Owing to "specially developed software", each time the documentary plays in the cinema, different scenes will be shown in different orders. According to the filmmakers, there are 52 quintillion possible iterations. So I can tell you that the documentary I saw was "thoughtful and philosophical", but bear in mind that this version "will never be seen again". 

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Eno" is a "fascinating honeycomb of interlocking sequences", each of which tackles a "different facet" of the musician, producer, artist and activist's methods, philosophy and career, said Sam Wigley in Sight and Sound. 

"Common to many of these particles are warm, unguarded interviews with Eno at his home and studio in Norfolk, where he's seen layering sounds at his computer and out admiring shrubs in his garden." 

His Roxy Music co-stars, his collaborator David Bowie, "and a mixing-desk session with U2 are in the blend too". 

This "pick'n'mix doc" is not, ultimately, "as radical as it purports to be, or as revealing as it could have been", said Steve Rose in The Guardian. But it is "stimulating and cerebral", and Eno comes across as appealingly funny and self-deprecating.