Who is Bozo Texino?

[StevePulaski]

Who is Bozo Texino? (2005)
Directed by: Bill Daniel

Rating: ★★★½
NOTE: A special thanks to loyal friend/reader Dennis P., who kindly sent me this along with several other films to review.

There is a clear code of conduct for hobos and railroad graffiti artists. Bill Daniel's brief, underground documentary Who is Bozo Texino? makes this clear. They have their own monikers and signatures. Their lives are predicated on self-reliance and self-sufficiency. In one scene, a man even mentions he knows of certain hobos who've stolen other people's monikers. He won't name names. Code of conduct and all, of course.

Who is Bozo Texino? revolves around the search for the infamous graffiti artist(s) responsible for marking thousands of trains with the same symbol: a disembodied head with an enormous brimmed cowboy-hat smoking a cigar with the words "Bozo Texino" scribbled underneath. Some hobos interviewed over the course of the documentary claim the real Bozo Texino was a car-man in Lafayette who quit smoking and drew on train-cars when he was tempted to smoke. Another man insists he was a railroad switcher in the days of yore. Another claims he's dead and more contemporary signage is plagiarized. It's all very fuzzy.

As is the quality of film Daniel used, a low-contrast black-and-white achieved with a Bolex 16mm camera that gives the film the feeling of being a lost relic. Shot over the course of 16 years and released in 2005 via Daniel's website, Who is Bozo Texino? is where you find yourself when you venture very far off the beaten path of cinema. Sometimes the journey produces a gem, sometimes it produces a dud. This is one an easy call: the former.

Early on while watching the film, a thought entered my mind: what exactly is the difference between a hobo and a bum? Moments later, to my delight, the question was acknowledged, albeit shoddily answered. Hobos are traveling workers who live off the land. They build the fire and cook the food, one hobo informs us. Bums, or "tramps," ride the rails but won't do "jack shit." They're scourges on society in the eyes of diligent, self-sufficient hobos. Hobos are so detached from normal society that they have their own dialect and language for all intents and purposes. To be submerged in their transient settings, if only for a fleeting moment in time, is quite liberating.

One soul doesn't much care that he fits the description of a bum more than a hobo. The reason? He can be asked what to do but can't be told what to do. "I hear ya calling, baby, but ya ain't gettin' me," he tells a passing train as it blows its horn. He rambles about his past love and brushes with authority. The only negative is that in scenes like this, Daniel is quick to cut him off and move forward with the journey, never lingering on a subject or setting for very long. It's the overarching issue with the film, but perhaps it's in the spirit of hobos. You'd rather dart somewhere early than too late.

I won't ruin if the titular question is answered. That's for you discover. Who is Bozo Texino? begins to wrap up by showing the youngblood hobos and tramps making music in the woods, marching alongside each other like a counterculture march in the 1960s. Soon after, one hobo says he proudly rejects society because the alleged foundation of American being built on hard-work, integrity, and believing in God is a fallacy in his eyes. "It was built on murder, mayhem, slavery, and oppression." You see the cult of young folks on social media posting very similar things. But would they give up the comforts of their lives and the savior that is their technology to embrace a freer life? My guess would be no. It takes a degree of bravery and belief in one's self to live this life.

NOTE: Who is Bozo Texino? is available to purchase on Bill Daniel's website: www.billdaniel.net/who-is-bozo-texino

Directed by: Bill Daniel.