An artist who operates on such a groundbreaking, international level as Robert Wilson deserves a documentary as good as "Absolute Wilson." German-born Katharina Otto-Bernstein spent five years -- impressive even by Wilson's uncompromising, workaholic standards -- shadowing this restless and relentless artist as he dashes from project to project, all visionary works that spread across the disciplines of theater, opera, dance, performance and fine art. Gaining access not only to Wilson himself for unusually candid interviews but also to such collaborators, admirers and critics as composer Philip Glass, writer Susan Sontag, opera diva Jessye Norman, singer-songwriters Tom Waits and David Byrne and critics John Rockwell and John Simon, Otto-Bernstein has put together an astonishing portrait of an artist at the height of his creativity.

The film penetrates the myth and mythos surrounding Wilson, making his works more accessible and open to those of us who sometimes puzzle over the methods and meanings in his cerebral, psychologically complex expressionism. The film should engender an art house following in sophisticated urban venues before its HBO broadcast.

"Wilson" is an artistic biography. Although the film is full of nuggets of information from Wilson's personal life, the focus is on the man's work, which is fitting since one gets the distinct impression that that's where his focus lies, too. Wilson doesn't even seem to have a life separate from his artistic one, the two are so clearly intertwined.

The film includes generous amounts of archival footage of his work, but the film's genius is to get us inside those works. Wilson's own recollection of his work is the biggest key to understanding what make him and it tick.

Born in the segregated, fundamentalist town of Waco, Texas, in 1941 to the town's mayor, Wilson was an outsider virtually from Day 1. Plagued by a stutter and learning disabilities, the lonely boy had to know his days there were numbered by his friendship with a black youth and his homosexuality. He even ventured into Sunday services in black churches, where he says he discovered that gospel music was about hope without any negative sentiments.

Moving to New York to study architecture proved liberating to the young man, who was exposed to a flowering of theater and artistry in the early '60s. An ill-conceived move back to Waco led to a suicide attempt. Interestingly, during his incarceration in a mental hospital after this episode, he found he liked his time alone.

Another pivotal moment came when a teacher suggest he "slow down" his speech to help control his stutter. Not only did the stutter disappear in a few months, he found the admonition to "slow down" changed his whole perception of the world.

As his career moved forward, he managed to find and attract people whose own afflictions contributed to his art. The first was a young black deaf youth, around whom Wilson staged his first major hit, "Deafman Glance," in Paris. Later, an autistic boy became a part of Wilson's theater company and contributed to several shows.

The film covers the inspiration behind such theatrical extravaganzas as "Einstein on the Beach," a seven-day marathon in Iran and "The Black Rider," as well as his biggest defeat, the cancellation of "The Civil Wars" by the Los Angeles Olympics Arts Festival in 1984.

The contributions by the film's talking heads, including Wilson's, are unusually precise and conclusive, illuminating the concepts behind his seminal works. Untrained in the traditional sense and clearly an intuitive artist, Wilson seemingly takes on projects as a way to explore meaning. "The reason to work is to say, 'What is it?' " he declares.

ABSOLUTE WILSON
New Yorker Films
HBO Documentary Films
Credits:
Writer-director: Katharina Otto-Bernstein
Producers: Katharina Otto-Bernstein, Penny CM Stankiewicz
Directors of photography: Ian Saladyga, Eric Seefranz
Music: Miriam Cutler
Editor: Bernadine Colish
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating