united states, 1954, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, englishIt’s an incredible achievement that he was making films in the 50s and in the 2000s. It’s a shame these are the films he was making.
STAN BRAKHAGE
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume One
I hated this. Basically all of it. Even more than the work of Hollis Frampton, which I was already extremely mixed on, this was a chore to get through. I hated this so much that I don’t even really have anything to say about it. Usually strong feelings lead to strong words for me, but this just left me so excited to turn it off and walk away.
There were two exceptions. The first was Window Water Baby Moving, which is an extremely graphic presentation of the birth of Brakhage’s first child. It was beautiful. Meaningful, and poignant, and incredibly brave from his then-wife Jane Wodening to allow it to be made. As a parent of two children, who was very present for both births, it made me feel things.
The other one was The Wold Shadow, which is... basically just a picture of trees. There’s some shadow stuff and what not, but, yeah, basically just a picture. And, you know what? It’s a nice picture. I enjoyed looking at it. The entire film is, mercifully, 2 and a half minutes long. That’s about as long as I can imagine being captivated by this particular image, so that just about worked out.
Other than that? This is so aggressively not for me. I am just not a fan of experimental film. Perhaps even less so than I was back in 2015 when I watched them last. The entire thing feels inscrutable, pointless, decadent, irritating, and a bunch of other unpleasant emotions. It’s just not for me. Which is fine, but man am I not excited to watch another SEVEN HOURS of this in part two. Let’s pencil that in for 2037. In another eleven years I might be just about ready to do this to myself again.