Thoth (2002) User Reviews

Unusual documentary

[wisewebwoman · 7/10 · 9 October 2005]

SK Thoth, the star of this doc. comes through a whole pile of pain in his life and through the process learns who he wants to be. He was a shy, fearful child who never smiled after his parents broke up. Racism was rampant in the states and he was a product of a mixed marriage, a Jewish father and an Afro-American mother, both educated intellectuals. Close to suicide he makes a conscious decision to explore his whole being and dare to embrace all of it, including a language and country he invented as a child. The results are enthralling viewing and I particularly enjoyed the reactions of the audience to Thoth's performance in the Tunnel in Central Park. The reaction of the brokers on Wall Street was a different matter! 7 out of 10. I would have been interested to hear his sisters' reaction to his strange life-style and there wasn't quite enough about the partner who lived in a different city.

You won't know what to think at first.

[agentcooperfbi · 10/10 · 27 February 2002]

I use to watch him perform when I lived in San Francisco. I saw him first on the SFSU campus. From a distance I thought he was performing a Native American dance (he only had on a large loin cloth, he had a feather in his hair plus his hair is long and thick and looked like a headress plus the style of foot stomping, chanting, and rattling of shell-type instruments reminded me of dances at Navajo and Hopi Pow-Wows in Albuquerque).

He's very talented and great to talk to. He music is certainly operatic with the vocals (it's a created language he uses and sounds great). The often fast-paced tempo of his violin and stomping is quite contagious. The music can also be quite emotional and it really shows in his face and motions. Awesome performer!

Beautiful Moving Film

[ChristineBee · 10/10 · 29 March 2003]

I don't even know where to begin. I saw this story and was literally moved to tears by its sheer beauty and message. Thoth is such an inspiration to all of us who complain about little things. What this man has endured and overcome is a message to us all.

Lacks authenticity

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 25 April 2016]

"Thoth" is a 42-minute documentary about a performance artist from New York. Almost 15 years ago, it won director Sarah Kernochan her second Academy Award, almost 30 years after the first. His name is Thoth, like in the title and he has a Black mother and a Russian father. The result is that he is easy to recognize in terms of his physics. But beyond that, I see nothing that stands out compared to other performance artists. I live in a very big city myself and I see street musicians almost every day and I must say I like most of them more than I like Thoth. His ethical background has nothing to do with talent. I personally did not appreciate the style of music offered in here. Is it different? Perhaps. Is it good? I don't think so. Apart from that, his talking often sounds fairly pretentious. I am not sure if he is to blame or Kernochan who may have written these and told him what to say, but it made him come off quite unlikeable. The constant laughing and talking about how he is a blessed creature didn't help either. The Academy got it wrong. I felt this was a pretty annoying watch and I don't recommend it.

amazing

[plungerpal · 9/10 · 24 August 2010]

At the very beginning of this documentary, I was puzzled by Thoth's performance. It seemed rather strange to me. Then, as the documentary reveals more about Thoth's life, the performance begins to make more and more sense. You understand exactly what caused Thoth to create his fantasy world and by extension his opera, and feel his plight as a homeless street performer. By the end of the documentary, you will view Thoth as a remarkable performer and an inspiration to both musicians and non-musicians alike. Overall, his work reminds me of a combination of JRR Tolkien and Richard Wagner (which according to his website are two of his biggest influences). Simply astounding.