Reality and fiction… again… and Tom Waits

I have been trying different inadequate and sort of inane ways of saying that a really good documentary film (or at least my own films) should take advantage of both reality and fantasy and mix them in a cinematic way which will enhance the spectators understanding and appreciation of the depiction and interpretation of reality.

But as the first paragraph here shows, the wording gets a little… erhm… wordy and egg headed, so I was really happy to stumble over this quote from an interview with none other than one of my favorites, Tom Waits, who manages to add the pictures (which really should be my job, damn-it):

  

“Mostly I straddle reality and the imagination. My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.”

So regarding documentary films, always listen to what Tom says.

(Afterall, he also gives these valid advices: "Never trust a man in a blue trench coat; never drive a car when you're dead")