Stuff You Gotta Watch: You Are What You Eat
A slice of countercultural weirdness directed by Monterey Pop camera operator Barry Feinstein, You Are What You Eat is an experimental semi-documentary that helps make sense of the era. Built around music sequences intercut with statement-driven scenes, the film offers more to audiences now than it did at the time of its release: In his 1968 review for The Harvard Crimson, Frank Rich complained that only “adults who have avoided Life or television for three years might learn something from You Are What You Eat.”
Unsurprisingly, the pièce de resistance lies in its stunning soundtrack, which not only includes two Tiny Tim contributions (You Are What You Eat marks his debut feature-film appearance) but also material from Paul Butterfield, Hamsa El Din, John Simon, Rosko, Electric Flag, and more. It’s a shame the film remains so hard to find in relatively decent condition (all footage circulating on the internet seems to be extracted from a worn-out VHS tape), though the original copy has apparently been preserved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as a document of historical importance.
Review by Ana Leorne. Check out the full archive of the Stuff You Gotta Watch column.