Once one overcomes the desire for a "normal" Hollywood "plot," this satiric gem begins to shine as a genuinely original work of modern art.
Masked & Anonymous takes place in an alternate world, probably America under a dictatorship. Minor scam-artists are attempting to put on a benefit concert to raise money for the war-injured, though really just wanting to pay off their own debts, & make music in a world that has gone to hell in a handbasket.
A whole series of brilliant performances by familiar actors populate this tale. The vast number of famous actors showing up in cameos is reminiscent of a film by Robert Altman, but with amped up insanity & no role too small to be awesome. Throughout, a gawky old rock n roller, Jack Fate (the alternate-world's Bob Dylan played by himself) keeps his secret that he's the dictator's son singing the soundtrack for a doomed planet.
It might not "explain" well but this film has got to be one of the most original, witty, & wise film about the impact of popular music on society, even apart from its surrealist science fiction context.
copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl
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