THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE (Marie Losier, U.S.). 72 minutes. Rating: NNN
In Ballad, part of Hot Docs’ very strong Next component of films about the arts, creativity and pop culture, visionary and industrial music groundbreaker Genesis P-Orridge recalls his love affair with his late muse, Lady Jaye.
The two, always devoted to living large, took themselves and their art so seriously that they made their own bodies their primary art project, pursuing cosmetic surgeries that would make them look like twins.
In her debut feature, experimental short expert Marie Losier mines a trove of archival video – the couple and their friends shot just about everything they did – to draw a compelling portrait. In the end, though, the portrait is more of P-Orridge than of the couple.
