Jon works through his conflicted, fragmented sex life with the help of a digital diary detailing the sometimes amusing and sometimes excruciatingly intimate moments of his life. More than just a self-portrait, we feel the image's truth: the illuminated body, the grain of digital atmosphere, the self-abstracted.
Herbert's second feature using HD video continues his preoccupation with the nude figure, but now clothing begins to appear more commonly. The film moves between narrative and documentary in a give and take that is more accessible and linear than earlier work.
In the end, his search for self takes him to an abandoned village in the Tuscan hills. An attractive Italian couple deliver the dénouement as they touch Jon physically and emotionally in a scene of conflict and rejection.
‘I DIARY’ is a sometimes funny, mostly dark, but always deeply personal digital diary of a young man's lust, love, and loss.
James Herbert (b. 1938) is an American director most known for directing a series of classic music videos for the band R.E.M.. He has also made over forty short films, and directed several independent features, including Scars (1997) and La Presenza (2001).
Herbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied with the abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still and the experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage. R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe met Herbert when he studied with him at the University of Georgia. Stipe greatly admired Herbert's films, and in addition to having him helm R.E.M.'s earliest music videos, he later cited Herbert as a significant influence on him individually and artistically.
Director: James HERBERT
70 min. 2007 DV, Colour, with words, English
Screenplay: Jon Roy
Cinematography: James Herbert
Music: Sean Eden
Editor: Kevin Roy
Cast: Jon Roy, Pier Nicola Bruno, Jairo Sansone, Marta Scislo, Linnea Ricci, Caterina Cardinali, Lucia Palmer
