Philip Glass Movies

Inspired by the book The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil, Barry Ptolemy's documentary explores how Kurzweil's groundbreaking inventions and innovations have helped to advance society while potentially posing the greatest threat to mankind the world has ever known. Having previously predicted such things as the internet, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the defeat of a chess champion by a computer opponent, Kurzweil now claims that by 2029 the only means of keeping up with technological advances will be for humans to merge with the machines they've created. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With his documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, director Matt Wolf etches out a biographical portrait of avant-garde musician, artist, and disco producer Arthur Russell, who died of AIDS at age 40 in 1992. Though Russell was a classically trained composer and cellist with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of indigenous Indian music, this performer quickly branched off in a more offbeat and unusual direction. The Oskaloosa, IA, native fixated on such counterculture icons as John Cage and Timothy Leary at an early age, then ran away from home during adolescence and joined a Frisco-based Buddhist group. Russell became acquainted and associated with poet Allen Ginsberg, then moved to New York City, where (like Cage) he established himself as a veritable fixture in the underground music scene and worked as the music director for The Kitchen. By the mid-'70s, Russell began producing prescient disco records in the pre-Gibb days, under colorful pseudonyms such as Indian Ocean and Loose Joints. Unfortunately, he never culled the devoted following that he deserved until about 15 years after his death. Wolf employs a fractured film-essay style throughout the film, intercutting such materials as archival footage, extracts of musical compositions by Russell, and revealing interviews with Russell's family. Thematically, the director uses the tale of Russell's colorful life as a springboard into investigations of broader subjects and themes including gay lifestyles in the early AIDS era, the sociocultural landscape of Manhattan (and the cultural underground) during the 1970s and '80s, and the importance of staking out new directions in art and music for an innovative mind such as Russell's. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Chuck Close travels into the world of one of the late 20th and early 21st century's most highly singular visual artists. The eponymous subject of the title opted, early on, to exclusively devote all of his time and creative energy to constructing massive human likenesses, "deconstructed" into enlarged photographs, self-portraits, images from other artists, and a host of other ephemera. From a close vantage point, the overall image can be neither discerned nor detected, but when one stands at a considerable distance, the smaller components "coalesce" into a fluid whole. As documentarist Marion Cajori subtly reminds the audience time and again, the most astonishing aspect of Close's artistic construction (especially given the photo shoots, image selection, and other elements that go into the process) involves his 20 year physical paralysis. The central narrative of Cajori's film witnesses Close's construction of one such portrait (with the help of many assistants) over an 80+ day period; she also works in footage from a biographical sketch of Close that she shot in 1998, clips of the artist and his colleagues, and a number of additional sources - hence mirroring, in the creation of her own biographical portrait of Close, the process by which Close creates a new work of art. Chuck Close also represents the final cinematic work of acclaimed documentarist Cajori, who died shortly after editing this motion picture; it took her 13 years to complete, from 1993 to 2006. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Few musical archivists have worked as tirelessly to preserve American folk music as Harry Smith, and with this documentary filmmaker Rani Singh offers an illuminating look at the lasting impact of Smith's landmark release Anthology of American Folk Music. Originally released as a compilation of 78rpm records and later expanded to an impressive Folkway Records release in 1952, Anthology of American Folk Music was a key factor in the urban folk music revival of the 1960s. Recognizing the importance of both these recordings and Smith's remarkable legacy, Singh conducts interviews with a variety of musicians including Beck, Elvis Costello, Phillip Glass, Sonic Youth, Beth Orton, David Johansen, and Smith himself in order to explore just how this release continues to impact the American music scene to this very day. On the heels of the Anthology of American Folk Music CD release in 1997, Hal Willner's "Harry Smith Concerts" celebrated the archivist's idiosyncratic vision on stage with notable contributions by such performers as Nick Cave and Lou Reed. With this film fans can not only see remarkable clips of those performances, but gain unprecedented insight into the mind of the man who never stopped working to preserve the music that spoke to his soul. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Controversial South African helmer Darrell James Roodt (Sarafina!, Yesterday), writes and directs the experimental melodrama Faith's Corner. The effort (which recalls and suggests influence by Ousmane Sembene's 1966 Borom Sarret) weaves the tale of an impoverished mother named Faith (Leleti Khumalo) who travels to a Johannesburg street corner each morning with her two sons, Siyabonga (Sibonelo Xulu) and Lucky (Thobani Khybeka), and begs for change - only to run head first into jeers and catcalls from the passersby. In time, Faith discovers the existence of a day care center that will take the boys in, but brings them back after learning that it lowers her alms. She is subsequently crushed by the escalating burden of grief and sorrow. Roodt filmed the picture with an ancient, hand-cranked camera and dated film stock to give it a yellowed aesthetic; he also avoids the use of all sync sound and works in title cards. Philip Glass scored the picture, and interlaces the music with sound effects to coincide with many of the images. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker John Halpern turns his lens toward central Asia to focus on the spiritual developments that have occurred in the West following the 1959 siege on Tibet with this film, which contrasts the Western gravitation toward Buddhism with the journey of Tibetan Buddhists to seek refuge in the West while also highlighting the differences between Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture. By placing interviews with such famous filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Oliver Stone alongside interviews with such Buddhist figures as Tibetan meditation master Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Shambhala leader Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, English Tibetan Buddhist nun Ani Tenzin Palmo, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Halpern underscores the state of Buddhism in the Western world, and looks in on those who have journeyed to the West to see how far they have come in both their spiritual and physical travels. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This 46 minute documentary takes a look at issues of domestic violence, murder, and how the legal process seeks to protect the right people. It follows the story of a woman named Susan Greenberg who killed her boyfriend in 1987, when she was 19, after enduring severe physical and emotional abuse. After being found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life, Greenberg sought to be released based on evidence that the murder was a result of "Battered Woman Syndrome." ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

A forward-looking woman attempts to teach a primitive child the ways of humanity as her neighbors prefer to remain in the past in this drama from Michael Mackenzie, which he adapted from his own play. In 1888, a wealthy heiress from Philadelphia (Patricia Clarkson) marries a British Baron (Colm Feore) and with him moves to Paris. Since the Baron travels often as he plies his trade as an art dealer, the Baroness finds herself alone at home, without friends or acquaintances. Hoping to attract a circle of intellectually challenging companions, the Baroness takes it upon herself to design a salon, which, along with up-to-the-minute furnishings and impressionist paintings, includes such new technology as electric lighting and a phonograph. However, the Baroness' new salon fails to earn her the respect of her neighbors, who tell the Baron they find his new bride's fascination with technology and democracy boorish and laughable. Making things worse, the Baroness comes to the realization that her husband is more interested in her money than her mind, and his sexual demands of her are brutal and violent. In time, the Baroness devotes her time to a new project -- a feral child (Caroline Dhavernas) has been found in a stable, where she lived with a heard of pigs, and the Baroness takes it upon herself to teach the child to walk, speak, and behave in a civilized manner, a task many believe is doomed to failure. The Baroness and the Pig was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Philip Glass, the minimalist composer whose works include the soundtrack for the acclaimed art film Koyaanisqatsi, commissioned a set of film projects in 2001, including this one, Passage. In it, female director Shirin Neshat reveals an enigmatic desert land in which funeral customs display and contrast Islamic male and female cultural roles. A young girl plays in the dirt while a mysterious rhythm overtakes a circle of women in the desert, and a group of men travels on foot over all types of terrain to transport the body of the deceased. The distinctive customary apparel of both the men and women stands out against the nature of landscapes and the elemental sand, water, and finally, fire. Neshat was backed up by an Iranian crew to produce this short film, just under 12 minutes long, which provides expansive and vibrant views of Morocco. Glass' music accompanies the wordless piece, enhancing the subtle rhythms and gender-based contrasts of the ritual it portrays. Originally commissioned for a series at Lincoln Center in New York, Passage was purchased for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (also in New York) where it was screened as part of the "Moving Pictures" exhibit in 2002. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide

Mark Edlitz, an associate of David Mamet who has assisted him on several stage and screen projects, makes his debut as a writer and director with The Eden Myth. A wealthy family sees their dirty laundry exposed as bizarre secrets and a history of incest come to light. Philip Glass contributed the musical score to this drama which was shown at the 1999 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide