With all their talk of positive energy, peaceful coexistence and drugs, you'd think the blissed-out dervishes in the documentary "Better Living Through Circuitry" had just drifted in from the '60s. But the throbbing, wordless sound they're whirling to isn't the Beatles. It isn't even Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Youth cultures come and go, and it probably is a given that each generation thinks their's is the only one that matters. So you'll excuse this baby boomer his air of condescension as he circles the phenomenon known as raving. What, after all, could be so special about dancing till you drop?
Apparently plenty, judging by all the folks who find their way to those underground tribal gatherings. Some of the people director Jon Reiss interviews in "Better Living" drive up to 10 hours to attend them, trekking out to the countryside or to spooky abandoned warehouses. And they do it week in and week out.
What motivates them? What reward at journey's end could possibly make it all worth while? The movie seems to have been designed to answer such questions for viewers not yet familiar with the rave scene. Though they doubtless will be entertained, the movie probably plays better to audiences who don't need to ask questions to begin with.
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This is one of a small wave of new films--"Human Traffic" and the upcoming "Groove" are others--that focus on this influential subculture that often is viewed by outsiders with suspicion. Raves, after all, to the consternation of partisans, usually attract mainstream attention only in connection with drugs.
"Better Living" takes us deeper, possibly deeper than you'll want to go unless you're already in love with electronic dance music and other elements of the rave phenomenon.
Filled with interviews with people whose lives intersect with rave culture--deejays, graphic artists, promoters and folks who just like to dance--the movie also is pretty much wall-to-wall music and dancing.
A movie about raves could never fully capture the sense of exhilaration that attends these events, filled as they are with movement, spectacle and the frisson of human contact. So unless you attend it with a reservoir of easily accessible memories to supply the missing thrills, "Better Living," at one hour and 25 minutes, might get a tad wearying.
Until then, though, what Reiss shows us is intriguing--yes, and thrilling. This is true in part because of the energy of the raves themselves and the behind-the-scenes look at how the music is created and how it continues to evolve along with the technology.
