by Cathy Bao

          During a time of recession, it is logical to feature a film documenting the lives of people struggling to make ends meet, while still trying to hold on to their dreams. Alan Gray, the writer, editor, producer, and director of the film Faster than a Fax Machine portrays a personal connection to his subjects Chris Wilhelm and Garland “Bullet” Cook. Both Wilhelm and Cook are musicians that have had incredibly arduous journeys breaking into the music business. From singing out loud while biking around the city to playing guitar in train stations, these two men have experienced it all. This film strives to show the tough battle between a person’s sense of self and his need to fit into society’s standards.

          Although “Bullet” was not present for interviewing, Wilhelm provided a sense of the struggling musician that was more than enough. Wilhelm has been performing his music since the age of thirteen and has never once given up on his dreams. As he states, the most difficult part of his journey was not creating the music, but the financial problems that arose while doing so. Because all the part-time jobs he had to take were so time consuming, he quit his job and dedicated his life just to playing music. After the film, Wilhelm performed a few songs for the audience that revealed how talented a musician he actually is. He is very engaged with his audience and has a great presence on stage. It seems as though the hardest part of gaining fame is making the world see him as he is without gimmicks, tricks, or fake publicity. All these aspects show that the core problem lies much more with societal standards than it does with him.

          One of the most inspiring aspects of this film lies in the fact that the producer of this film is on the same playing field as his characters. He is a struggling artist himself and often uses credit cards to fund his work. We can see this in the home-made video quality of this film. Gray does not try to imitate high-budget Hollywood films. Instead, he embraces the reality of this situation and makes effective use of a handheld camera to document his work. The audience gets a personal connection with the musicians in the film as they describe their biggest dreams and strongest fears to the handheld camera.

          Overall, this film speaks to not only artists, but to anyone who has a passion. We all dream of an ideal world where we can match up our passions with a career. However, very few of us actually ever reach that and we tend to settle for unfulfilling jobs for financial rewards. It is very admirable to find people who never give up on their dreams in spite of all the obstacles they are bound to face. This film strongly emphasizes that although communication through music is “Faster than a Fax Machine,” the world is still too fast for them.