Björk Movies

Filmmaker Drew Thomas brings California's popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to the screen with a different kind of musical documentary that not only showcases performances by some of the hottest acts to take the stage, but offers interviews with such musical icons as Beck, Joshua Homme, Mos Def, and Perry Farrell as well. From English icon Morrissey's performance at the inaugural Coachella Festival back in 1999 to Canadian indie rockers the Arcade Fire's electric 2005 set, the musical acts featured here run the gamut from hip-hop to alternative and virtually everything in between. Other artists featured include the Pixies, the Flaming Lips, Kool Keith, Radiohead, Saul Williams, and Squarepusher. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With his acclaimed Cremaster Cycle and 2005 feature Drawing Restraint 9, avant-garde artist Matthew Barney established himself as a bold experimentalist who wasn't afraid to take a few risks for the sake of his art. Set into motion in the late '80s, Barney's Drawing Restraint series consists of works in which the artist attempts to create works while hindered by physical weights and barriers. The result, claims Barney are creations that are much more rewarding due to the difficulty it takes to render them. With Drawing Restraint 9, the artist teamed with his wife, Björk, to tell the tale of a couple who boards a Japanese whaling ship to partake in a series of obscure rituals -- including a ceremony that took place in a tank filled with 45,000 pounds of petroleum jelly. For fans longing to see how the innovative artist achieves his unique vision, this documentary by filmmaker Alison Chernick mixes clips from Drawing Restraint 9 with interviews and footage of Barney playing high-school football to create a comprehensive look at her subject's entire career. Additional conversations with Guggenheim curator Nancy Spector, New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art chief curator Yuko Hasegawa, and more, this portrait of Barney transcends the trappings of your typical making-of documentary. Björk and Mayumi Miyata collaborate to create the musical score. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker and artist Matthew Barney collaborated with his wife, noted musician Björk, for this ambitious experimental feature. Aboard a Japanese fishing vessel named the Nisshin Maru, a crew of laborers constructs "the Field," a sculptural mold in the shape of an oval that is filled with melted petroleum jelly. As the crew slaves over the project, a man and woman (played by Barney and Björk) are brought on board, and while the ship sets sail the couple prepare to be married in a traditional Japanese ceremony. As the pair are about to be wed, the captain of the Nisshin Maru (Susil Osoma) relates the history of his ship to them. That night, a massive storm at sea disturbs "the Field," and the petroleum jelly floods the room where the newlyweds are staying, forcing them to tear away their outer shells and reveal the animals which lurk within in order to survive. Drawing Restraint 9 was one of Matthew Barney's first major works after completing his widely acclaimed five-film series The Cremaster Cycle. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Nobuyoshi Araki is Japan's most famous and notorious photographer. In a culture where complete female nudity is frowned upon even in men's magazines, Araki has been acclaimed and condemned for his photo books and exhibitions which usually focus upon women, usually nude and often in bold (and sometimes disturbing) poses. While he has been decried as a pornographer and a misogynist in his homeland, many others regard him as singular voice in the photographic arena, and many of the women who work with him have spoke of his sincere love and respect for them. Arakimentari is a film by American documentarian Travis Klose which offers a look at the professional and personal sides of Araki, including his background, his relationships with his models, his less well known portraiture and landscape work, and how he spends his spare time. Also included are interviews with several friends and contemporaries, including musician Björk, photographer Richard Kern, and actor/filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Björk: Greatest Hits -- Volumen 1993-2003 is a complete Björk video collection presented with a standard full-frame transfer with Dolby Digital Stereo Sound. Includes the 2003 videos for "It's in Our Hands" and "Nature Is Ancient." The videos for "Hidden Place," "Pagan Poetry," and "Cocoon" are also offered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Side one contains the NTSC version, side two contains the PAL version. The beautiful black-and-white packaging features art by Gabriella Fridriksdottir and a booklet. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Björk: Live at the Royal Opera House contains a live performance in London, Convent Garden, on Sunday, December 16, 2001. One of the first contemporary pop artists to perform on the historic stage of the Royal Opera House, Björk is joined by harpist Zeena Parkins and the electronic duo Matmos. An all-female Inuit choir from Greenland and a 56-piece orchestra appears under the direction of conductor Simon Lee. Contains 19 tracks, mainly taken from the 2002 album Vespertine, along with "Overture" from Selmasongs and "All Is Full of Love" from Homogenic. On stage, Björk wears plain white clothes while the choir wears red beaded outfits. She changes into a red dress for "Possibly Maybe," "Isobel," and "Hyperballad" from the album Post. After "Human Behavior" from Debut, she performs the single "It's in Our Hands" for the finale. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In what could be her greatest musical challenge to date, Icelandic songstress Björk attempts to record an entire album utilizing nothing but human voices as instruments -- with her unique vocal talents serving as the glue that holds the experiment together. Watch her record the album alongside such talented vocalists as Fantômas singer Mike Patton and Japanese beat-boxer Dokaka, and listen as the unique vocalists talk about the making of the album and the experience of working with Björk and the challenges of expanding the perceived limits of the human voice. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Reportedly the third in acclaimed director Lars von Trier's "Golden Hearts" trilogy (preceded by Breaking the Waves and The Idiots), this film is a hip reworking of the classic Hollywood Musical, starring international pop diva Bjork. Set somewhere in rural Washington state, Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) works in a pressing plant, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her 10-year-old son, Gene (Vladica Kostic). Her best friend is coworker and fellow European Kathy (Catherine Deneuve). While outside work, she is maintaining a cautious friendship with local yokel Jeff (Peter Stormare). She also landed a starring role as Maria in an amateur production of The Sound of Music. Selma's life would be one of relative contentment if it were not for the ugly secret she harbors -- she is on the verge of blindness due to a genetic disorder, and her young son will suffer the same fate without an operation. Selma has quietly been stashing away money for the surgery and has already amassed $2,000. When her savings, squirreled away in a can in the kitchen, suddenly disappear, she confronts her cash-strapped landlord Bill (David Morse). Of course, like all musicals, the plot periodically takes a backseat to the seven production numbers, including a show-stopping sequence in Selma's factory. Shot entirely on digital video, the film reportedly used up to 100 cameras for each musical number. Dancer in the Dark received top prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival including Best Actress for Bjork and the coveted Palme d'Or for Best Picture. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Would you pay money to journey into the mind of the star of Con Air, The Killing Fields, and In The Line of Fire? Puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is having money problems, so he takes a temporary job as a file clerk on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a large office building. One day, while rummaging behind a cabinet, he finds a small door that leads to the center of the mind of actor John Malkovich (played by, you guessed it, John Malkovich). Craig discovers that entering the portal allows him to become John Malkovich for a brief spell, and in time he and his beautiful but aloof co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) get the bright idea to charge admission for the privilege of spending 15 minutes inside the head of a well-known actor. Malkovich realizes that something strange is happening to him, but can do little to stop it, as strangers take over his mind for a quarter-hour at a time. Craig's wife, Lotte (Cameron Diaz), eventually takes a trip into Malkovich's psyche, and she soon finds herself in love with Maxine, with whom Malkovich has an affair; meanwhile, Maxine in time becomes infatuated with both Craig and Lotte, but only when they're inside Malkovich. Being John Malkovich marked the feature-length debut of director Spike Jonze, who previously made acclaimed music videos for Weezer, the Beastie Boys, and the Breeders, among others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Björk: Live in Cambridge is a live concert performance recorded on December 2, 1998. Contains 14 tracks, including "Hunter," "Isobel," "Human Behavior," and "Hyperballad." ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Recorded live in England, Björk: Live at Shepherd's Bush is a concert containing the wide range of Björk 's style from popular renditions to lesser-known pieces, all infused with her signature flair. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide

This large, sprawling comedy directed by Robert Altman concerns a variety of romantic and personal intrigues that intersect against the backdrop of Paris's annual "Pret-a-Porter" fashion extravaganza. With 31 principal characters and a number of cameos from well known models, designers, actors and actresses, there's far too much going on to describe the film in a limited space, but Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins get stuck in a hotel room together, Danny Aiello wears a dress, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni reignite their old passion (or at least try to), Stephen Rea humiliates a number of female journalists, Kim Basinger often looks dumbfounded, and Lyle Lovett plays a Texan (talk about imaginative casting!). Originally called Pret-a-Porter, this underwent a last-minute title change when the distributor discovered very few Americans understood what the French phrase means, with the English translation taking its place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide