Stan Brakhage Movies
Stan Brakhage is one of the most influential filmmakers in American avant-garde cinema, noted for his unflinching social commentaries and technical innovations. Over his nearly 40-year career, he has made over 200 films of varying length. He made his first film, Interim (1952) at age 18 after dropping out of college. Brakhage films seek to change the way we see. They encourage viewers to eschew traditional narrative structure in favor of pure visual perception that is not reliant on naming what is seen; rather his goal is to create a more visceral visual experience, for he believes that a "stream-of visual-consciousness could be nothing less than the pathway of the soul." To this end, his films are shot in highly sensual colors and utilize minimal soundtracks.His work can be divided into distinct periods. His first short films explored the properties and possibilities of light. In many of his experimental ventures, Brakhage has forgone traditional cinematography in favor of working directly with the film stock itself. He has occasionally painted, inked, scratched and dyed images onto it; he has also tried pasting organic objects on the film. His most famous example is the 1963 short Mothlight in which he glued moth wings onto the stock. Some of his early films were based on his most intimate experiences that included making love to his new bride--depicted on negative film--in Wedlock House: An Intercourse (1959), and an attempt to bring his dead dog back to life with a camera in Sirius Remembered (1959). During the 1960s, Brakhage's iconoclastic views were celebrated for their poetry, but during the '70s, his focus changed to social issues and he alienated many supporters with such disturbing film series as the "Pittsburgh documents" in which he presented many gruesome views of inner city life with films such as Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (1971) which was shot in a morgue. He also continued with autobiographical material with the "Sincerity/Duplicity series. During the 1980s, Brakhage's focus again changed--this time he became intrigued with creating truly "abstract" films such as Arabics (1982) which consists of brilliant bursts of colored light which he claims, represent "envisioned music." In addition to filmmaking, Brakhage also wrote books about films and filmmaking and also served as a teacher. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Marie Menken was an artist and experimental filmmaker who was a contemporary and confidante to many noted auteurs of the '60s, including Kenneth Anger (he helped her shoot her film Arabesque for Kenneth Anger, while she appeared in Scorpio Rising), Stan Brakhage (he was an outspoken supporter of her work) and Andy Warhol (she appears in The Chelsea Girls and supposedly coached him on working with movie equipment). While Menken never received the same acclaim among cineastes as the above-mentioned filmmakers, today she's considered an important and pioneering artist, and filmmaker Martina Kudlacek pays homage to the woman and her work in this documentary. Notes on Marie Menken includes clips from several of Menken's films, as well as interviews with Kenneth Anger, Billy Name, Mary Woronov, Jonas Mekas, and others who knew her; filmmaker Kudlacek also examines how Menken's work has impacted her own creative vision. Notes on Marie Menken received its North American premier at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Maya Deren was one of the pioneering figures of avant-garde cinema in America and also a noted author, poet, anthropologist, and alternative cultural figure of the 1940s and 1950s. Born Eleanora Derenkovsky in 1917, her family fled Kiev in 1922 to avoid political and economic reprisals brought on by her father's association with Leon Trotsky. Settling in Syracuse, NY, the family shortened their name to Deren, and Eleanora developed a passionate interest in dance and literature. After receiving degrees in English Literature and Journalism, Deren relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked with the pioneering African-American choreographer Katherine Dunham and wrote an essay on "Religious Possession in Dancing." After marrying director Alexander Hackenschmied (aka Alexander Hammid), Deren bought a second-hand movie camera and made Meshes of the Afternoon, an award-winning and highly influential experimental film, the first of many she would direct. After adopting the name Maya (taken from the Buddha's mother), Deren traveled to Haiti, where she began work on a film about the Voudon (or Voodoo) religion, and with the assistance of Joseph Campbell, she wrote a pioneering book on the subject called Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. In the Mirror of Maya Deren is an ambitious documentary which examines the public and personal sides of Deren's life and work, including interviews with a number of friends and contemporaries, including Katherine Dunham, Stan Brakhage, Judith Malina, Alexander Hammid, and Jonas Mekas. The film also features an original score by noted experimental jazz composer John Zorn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Brakhage, Chao-Li Chi, (more)
Experimental cinema legend Stan Brakhage is not exactly a household name; his work is practically unknown outside avant-garde and academic circles. But since 1952, when he was nineteen, he has created over 300 films, ranging from several seconds to several hours, methodically redefining the shape of film art. This documentary, made for Canadian TV, tries to show why he is considered one of the most innovative filmmakers of the last 50 years by exploring the depth and breath of his genius, the exceptional quality of his films and the influence of his work on generations of filmmakers. Director/screenwriter Jim Shedden does away with narration and commentary and instead lets the images speak for themselves. Film excerpts include sequences from works by Brakhage and other avant-garde filmmakers, such as George Kuchar, Jonas Mekas and Willie Varela, as well as interviews and archival footage. What is lacking is a critical analysis. For instance, Brakhage's unpopularity among 1970's feminist film-theorists -- particularly due to his patriarchal image -- is left unexplored. An original score was composed for the film by a long time associate of Brakhage, avant-garde composer James Tenney. Brakhage was screened at the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- 1999
It is estimated that 80% of all films released during the silent era have been lost forever, with no prints in existence today (a larger percentage of paintings from the Renaissance have survived), while some films from as little as 15 to 20 years ago have suffered color fading so severe they're all but unrecognizable now. The race by film historians to preserve and restore the essential artifacts of movie history is the subject of the documentary Keepers Of The Frame. Featuring interviews with subjects as diverse as Leonard Maltin, Debbie Reynolds and Stan Brakhage, Keepers Of The Frame addresses the need for a more careful preservation of America's cinematic legacy, one of the most important cultural and creative resources of this century, as well as showing how experts are restoring damaged and poorly-stored films -- as well as how much work remains to be done. The film also makes clear that obscure titles are not the only ones at risk, as we're shown severely damaged elements from Frank Capra's Meet John Doe and an early Al Jolson featurette in which the audio track has survived, but not the film itself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Laurence Austin, (more)
