Jonas Mekas Movies

Elio Gelmini's Anger Me paints an enduring biographical portrait of Kenneth Anger, one of the most fascinating, controversial and brilliant cinematic artists of the past sixty years, and a veritable godfather of independent film. Raised in Tinseltown, Anger was a mere seven years old when he acted in his first motion picture (as the Changeling Prince in William Dieterle's 1936 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream). He turned to filmmaking as a young man, crafting a series of surrealistic, abstract short films, heavily laden with cryptic, multilayered imagery, including Rabbit's Moon (1950), The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954), Scorpio Rising (1964), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969) and Lucifer Rising (1980). Though considered 'underground,' the works nonetheless impacted such contemporary mainstream directors as Martin Scorsese and David Lynch and have since become pillars of the American avant garde. Meanwhile, Anger acquired an enduring fascination with film history and Hollywood gossip, which led to two infamous books and turned him into a bestselling author: Hollywood Babylon (1976) and Hollywood Babylon 2 (1984). He also cultivated a network of acquaintances that included Warhol, Mekas, Ginsberg, Alfred Kinsey, Mick Jagger and everyone in-between. Gelmini pays homage to Anger via an extended monologue that finds the director discussing his life experiences, as well as the content and significance of his work ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Henry Geldzahler was one of the most important figures in 20th Century American art, even though he was not an artist himself. Geldzahler was a collector and historian who helped establish the role of artists such as Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, and Roy Lichtenstein within the canon of contemporary art with "New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970," a groundbreaking show at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art which made the case for pop art while the gallery establishment was still favoring the more accepted but less accessible abstract expressionists. A passionate man who was a friend, confidante, and collaborator to many of the painters and sculptors he championed, Geldzahler assembled the "New York Painting and Sculpture" show himself, and while it caused no small amount of controversy at the time (especially among his colleagues at the MoMA), it established a consensus that the pop movement and its leading figures were here to stay, and Geldzahler continued to be a mover and shaker in the world of contemporary art until his death in 1994 at the age of 59. Who Gets to Call it Art? is a documentary which celebrates and chronicles Geldzahler's life and career and features interviews with a number of his friends and associates, including Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Jasper Johns, Jonas Mekas, Larry Poons, John Chamberlain, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A pivotal figure in the American avant-garde cinema, Jonas Mekas has been active and influential as a filmmaker, critic, distributor, and champion of independent cinema since the early '60s, and this feature assembles over four hours of home movies from Mekas' personal archives into what he describes as "the ultimate Dogma movie, before the birth of Dogma." As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty offers a long glimpse into the life of Jonas Mekas as he spends time with his wife, his children, and his friends (among them fellow filmmakers Hollis Frampton and P. Adams Sitney) and travels from his home in New York City to various spots around the United States and Europe, all captured with an intimacy and immediacy that the filmmaker regards as more vitally important than a more polished technique. As I Was Moving Ahead... was exhibited at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival as part of their Forum of New Cinema series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A documentary profile of filmmaker John Waters, Divine Trash focuses on the bad-taste pioneer's early years, especially his 1972 breakthrough Pink Flamingos, which turned the director of Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs into the king of midnight movies thanks to word of mouth about the film's gleeful taboo-bashing -- and a distribution deal with the fledgling New Line Cinema. Interviews with filmmakers who both influenced Waters (Paul Morrissey, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Mike Kuchar, George Kuchar) and were influenced by him (Steve Buscemi, Jim Jarmusch, David O. Russell, Hal Hartley) are interspersed with copious behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Pink Flamingos, including the infamous doggy-doo scene. Through it all, the witty Waters provides commentary, recollections, and one-line quips. Pete Garey, owner of the film lab where Waters learned the technical side of moviemaking, recalls his first meetings with the youthful auteur. Mink Stole and other Dreamland Studios superstars reminisce about growing up in suburban Baltimore with Waters, who as a youngster loved car crashes, puppets, and clowns. The director's strait-laced parents reminisce about the financial support they provided for Pink Flamingos, which they have never seen. Neither has Frances Milstead, who looks back on the career of her late son, drag terrorist and Waters muse Divine. Divine and late "egg lady" Edith Massey crop up in various archival interviews and film clips. The man who played the "talking asshole" in Pink Flamingos also appears, albeit anonymously and disguised. Various film theorists and critics debate the merits and meaning of the Waters oeuvre, while Baltimore critic Don Walls and former Maryland film censor Mary Avara express their incredulity about the director's success. Divine Trash won the Filmmakers Trophy for Best Documentary at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Director Steve Yeager, a longtime friend of Waters, would go on to direct In Bad Taste: The John Waters Story and help Milstead write a book about her son. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This German documentary offers a tragic profile of the notorious "death angel," Nico. Long after her death in 1988, the German model and entertainer has remained a darkly mysterious cult figure. She was born Christa Paffgen in Cologne and took her professional name from photographer Nico Papatakis. She began modeling in the early '50s, and this led to a brief appearance in Fellini's classic La Dolce Vita. Though Nico was blessed with the rare combination of beauty and intelligence, she was depressive and utterly lacking in ambition; she spent much of her life simply drifting about through various film and commercial appearances until she met artist Andy Warhol. He introduced her to the band the Velvet Underground, which resulted in the tone-deaf beauty occasionally singing with them -- much to the discomfiture of the band members; she became addicted to heroin and eventually could no longer disguise its effects. Nico went on to become a solo act until her death as the result of a brain hemorrhage. Nico -- Icon includes film clips, commercial clips, archival photos, songs, and interviews with those who knew her, including members of the Velvet Underground, Paul Morrissey, ex-Factory members Viva and Billy Name, songwriter Jackson Browne, and avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Fans of avant-garde jazz and blues performance will appreciate this avant-garde documentary, which intersperses discussions with Fred Frith and his band with rehearsal and concert footage. From time to time the filmmakers indulge in a bit of jazz of their own, screening seemingly random images with a meaning and order which is known only to them. The musicians, who are never identified, are expert improvisationalists, and are prone to using whatever object is at hand in order to explore the limits of sound. Occasionally, the band members indulge in a bit of philosophizing for the camera, in one instance telling a Zen-inspired story about "one hand clapping." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This rapid-fire, avant-garde look at the world of director Jonas Mekas is filmed like a Sesame Street episode for adults. Not one of its more than 100 vignettes lasts longer than two minutes, and many are just 30 seconds in length. Notables such as Roberto Rossellini, Elia Kazan, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Allen Ginsberg and Jacqueline Onassis, among many others, are captured in brief clips. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Jonas Mekas was a vitally important figure in the American experimental film movement of the '50s and '60s; in addition to making a number of acclaimed films of his own, Mekas was the guiding light behind New York City's Filmmakers Cooperative, the Anthology Film Archives, and Film Culture magazine. Mekas explored his own remarkable story in Lost Lost Lost, a feature-length "diary film" compiled from footage Mekas shot informally between 1949 (when he first arrived in the United States as a "displaced person" after fleeing Lithuania during World War II) and 1963 (when he moved downtown to Manhattan and fell in with a bohemian crowd, including Allen Ginsberg and LeRoi Jones, that encouraged his passion for the arts). The film explores both Mekas' efforts to make a life for himself in his new home and his sense of wonder at the possibilities of life in New York City. Completed in 1976, Lost Lost Lost's aging elements were restored in 2004, and the film received a brief theatrical revival in 2005. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In 1970, Warhol starlet Viva released her first book, Viva Superstar, and husband and experimental video diarist Michel Auder was there for every minute of it. Planting his camera at the bookstore, Auder looks on as Nico, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jonas Mekas and many others stop by to congratulate her on her accomplishment. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

The Brig is a literal filmization of the 1964 Living Theater presentation written by Ken Brown. The play is set in a Marine Corps prison, with tense facial expressions and sudden outbursts of brutality supplanting dialogue for most part. Ken Brown traces the degeneration of one prisoner (Warren Finnerty) from a normal human being to little more than an animal. Shot in one single night with a hand-held camera, The Brig won the "best documentary" award at Venice Film Festival. The 120-minute version proved impossible for most mainstream audiences to endure; current prints run 57 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide