EAT THAT QUESTION: Frank Zappa In His Own Words, is a riveting documentary in which rock era icon Frank Zappa, in a series of interviews, shares his candid, often saucy, worldview on music and everything else. It debuts on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on September 27 from Sony Pictures Classics and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film’s main focus is on Zappa’s uninhibited and entertaining media dealings. His interviewers here range from amused tonight show king Steve Allen, joining him on an improvised piece for two bicycles, prerecorded noise and orchestra in 1963, to fascinated amateur Chuck Ash—a Pennsylvania State Trooper in full uniform who interviewed him twice on camera through the 80s. While chatting courteously about a tour or album, he knew better than any of his contemporaries how to set off unexpected fuses. His caustic comments about state and religion, the music industry and youth culture leave behind an evocative musical and socio-political commentary on his time.
Zappa’s touring, conducting and arranging complex bands to play his music very much enriches Eat That Question’s feast of bold and entertaining face-offs with the media. We are reminded he also made movies, including his best-known, 200 MOTELS (1971), and we are taken behind the scenes here. Despite this workload he also managed to release an average of two original albums a year for three decades; many of them instant classics. Watching Zappa bending and picking strings simultaneously, we are reminded the black-haired, Sicilian-blooded six-footer was also a brilliant guitarist.
During his 30 years of notoriety Frank Zappa became one of the most intensely independent artists the world has ever seen. Zappa would release 62 albums during his lifetime, signing with a range of companies, but as he mordantly observes in Eat That Question, “Record companies have a way of making sure your expenses always exceed your profits.” Synopsis:
Told solely through rare and never before seen historic footage of Frank Zappa’s highly acclaimed 30-year career, this unique 90 minute documentary is an energetic celebration of an often outspoken but brilliant musician. Unforgettable Zappa interviews and performances from one of rock and roll’s most legendary self-taught musicians have been painstakingly gathered across decades by director THORSTEN SCHÜTTE from the obscure vaults of TV stations around the world to create this unparalleled look at one of the brightest minds popular music has ever witnessed. EAT THAT QUESTION has a runtime of 90 minutes & is rated R for language.