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Derek Malcolm's rating
Chop Suey tells wrestler's tale
By
Derek Malcolm
3 Jul 2008
Bruce Weber, maker of Let's Get Lost, the recently re-released film about jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, takes a loving look at Peter Johnson, the ex-wrestler from Wisconsin who became his favourite male model, in this freeform documentary about his life and times as a fashion photographer. Lesbian jazz singer Frances Faye, Jan Michael Vincent, robert Mitchum and Judy Garland also feature, along with a Brazilian jujitsu champion called Gracie.
Chop Suey is a fresco of interviews, archival footage, reflections and images that could easily be called a vanity project if it wasn't so intriguing. Some of the best moments have Weber discussing photography with other aces of the genre. Others have surprisingly honest interviews with celebrities he has worked with. Johnson, an amiable heterosexual, says "wow" rather a lot and wonders why Weber sometimes dressed him up as a woman. I'd say the answer to that was rather obvious.
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