Searching for Elliott Smith @ Norwood House, October 23, 2009

While waiting for the Gil Reyes-directed and edited Searching For Elliott Smith to begin in a crowded room equipped with couches and a bar at the Norwood, one movie-goer said to another "Everyone knows Elliott Smith now." The question that this film calls to mind is how well do we really know him. While Smith's infamous depression was obviously a central focus of the film, Smith's lesser-known dry wit was talked about by more than one of the interviewees; one of them even remarked "With friends and people who worked with him, he's famous for his sense of humor." Of course with his beautiful acoustic melodies, bitingly melancholy lyrics, and suicide at the age of 34, Smith is most often seen as a tragic brilliant soul. Even with his obviously extreme depression, the film made it evident that Smith's sense of humor was real, though it may have been a bit morbid for some: it was explained that Smith often made jokes about how he would kill himself, saying he wanted to tie himself to an unknowing stranger's bumper and be dragged to death or to knock on somebody's door and tell them "It's all your fault" before shooting himself in the head.

As is often the case with anybody so beloved, fans and friends alike still have trouble accepting the idea that Smith really committed suicide. From the very beginning of the film, Jennifer Chiba, Smith's fiancˇe at the time of his death (and suspect of his murder to some), is on the record defending her innocence. The film even chronicles Chiba's journey to the police station to clear up the idea that she "refused to speak with detectives," which is listed as a reason by Smith's coroner for his possible homicide. While these conversations with said detectives have proved fruitless in giving any finality to the question of Smith's suicide on the record, Reyes did point out that a detective on the case was convinced of the suicide and was only unable to officialize it for lack of evidence. When Smith's roommate during his years in Portland, undoubtedly one of the closest people to Elliott during his life, is willing to say that they not only "Spoon-fed each other's depression," but that "Elliott had a definite darkness and a definite depressed nature," it makes it rather hard for anyone to continue to take seriously any theories of homicide.

Gil Reyes, in making Searching For Elliott Smith, has artfully shed some light on the mysterious figure and bruised soul extraordinaire whose main goal in making music was writing "songs that sound good to me and may be interesting to somebody else." Clearly, they are.

-Juliete Scholes