human tragedy on a grand scale/never confuse movement with action

Two films on one tape. In September 1998, Kerr released “never confuse movement with action,” a post-modern biography of Patrick Hemingway (a grandson of Ernest Hemingway). July 1999 was the centenary of Ernest Hemingway. There would be the publication of yet another posthumous novel. The Hemingway family hired a merchandising agent – Ernest Hemingway was now a brand name. The trust fund was secured for future generations.1999 was Ernest Hemingway’s year. But when Patrick Hemingway saw “never confuse movement with action,” he was less than pleased. Worried about his father’s reaction, a lawyer was hired and injunction threatened against the work. In negotiations with the Hemingway lawyer, director Richard Kerr agreed to produce an alternative version, with no promises to cut the objectionable material. Out of the experience of “never confuse movement with action,” comes “human tragedy on a grand scale.” About working with the Hemingways, Kerr says: “because of a deteriorating relationship with Patrick, which went from a breakdown of communication to threats of a lawsuit, the central dilemma of the project became Hemingwayesque themes of fact vs. fiction/self-fictionalization, and biography vs. autobiography. The more you know about your subject, the harder it is to make definitive statements, let alone judgements, and it became questionable whether moral judgements have any place at all in biography.” “human tragedy on a grand scale” is a response to “never confuse movement with action” and the struggle of dealing with the Hemingway family. What results is a piece very different from its predecessor – a visual poem, episodic in nature, made up of travel diaries compiled while working with Patrick. The issue now is the reconciliation and cathartic transformation from a Hemingway biography to a re-consideration of autobiography. The biographer takes us on a journey away from Patrick Hemingway – the cool, controlled persona – to East Vancouver, documenting lives stripped bare of pretension. The scope is broadened. Patrick Hemingway and all things Hemingway become insignificant.