This Brian Eno documentary is never the same

That picture is the fascinating and revealing film “Eno,” which will be shown on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at the Ross Media Arts Center.

“Eno,” led by producer and director Gary Hustwit, uses generative software created by digital film director Brendan Dawes that pulls out millions of possible variations of scenes and footage, creating an essentially new movie every time “Eno” is screened. a perfect technique for a topic that has been using generative music programs for years.

“I decided not to conduct contemporary interviews with other musicians and people he influenced. I didn’t want the film to be hagiographic,” Hustwot says in the film’s press release. “But over the last three years I have managed to film many conversations with Brian. He also gave me access to his archive containing hundreds of hours of recordings, including films he shot himself in the 1980s, lectures, old interviews, and unpublished projects.

“In many ways, I see Eno as a film about creativity, informed by Brian’s 50-year career. I still wanted it to feel like a cinematic documentary, but one that changes every time!”

Between the scenes there is software code that generates a variation of the movie you are watching.

While this is not, by definition, a reflection on the “Eno” that will be shown on any given night at the Ross, we hope it will provide enough examples to show how the film works and why it is so compelling and compelling.

Let’s start with some “historical” music scenes – Eno playing with Roxy Music, where he talks about collaborating with a then-little-known synthesizer to create sounds that didn’t come from any other band; David Bowie talking about working in the studio with Eno, somewhat amazed at what Eno does to contribute to the production; discussion about the recording with David Byrne of Talking Heads; and John Cale and U2 in the studio, with Eno collaborating with Cale on lyrics and giving Bono some singing advice.

They are not presented in chronological order or one after the other. But for those who know Eno even a little, you have “been there”, discovering and tracing the general outline of his career.

Then there’s Eno’s commentary on his invention, so to speak, of ambient music and the pain he felt from ambient criticism, which led to the “Eno-esque” critic becoming “this sucks” so much so that he turned down Joni Mitchell, who wanted to record an ambient album with him.

In other scenes, Eno, now over 70, is in his garden examining tiny beetles that have fallen from the leaves, demonstrating loops and generative programming on his computer, looking through notebooks he has kept for decades and laughingly reviewing old tape recordings of ideas and recordings demo.

Provocative were the philosophical passages, in which Eno wonders “what makes us like music” – ultimately concluding that it comes down to feelings – and talks about the role of the artist and the importance of art in modern society.

And rightly so, along comes Eno’s Oblique Strategies, a set of over 100 cards, each suggesting a way of acting or thinking in creative situations, read by performer Laurie Anderson.

Because “Eno” in a sense fulfills the same function, making us reflect on Eno’s career, his musical contributions, his philosophy and the innovative technique that makes each film screening unique. You can’t miss it – once or twice next week.