Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on February 08, 2008 at 09:05:09

In Reply to: RE: We all owe you posted by tinear on February 08, 2008 at 05:05:03

I think this who you mean...and yes, we saw her "At Land" and "Marshes Of The Afternoon"- she was of special interest to me because of her focus on dance - she collaborated with choreographer Antony Tudor for one short, the name of which escapes me now. A very underrated, hypnotic filmmaker, beautiful, dreamlike imagery. There is a DVD compilation of her work I keep meaning to get, it's rather hard to find now though it's on VHS from Facets. Or it was.

I'm embarassed to admit I can't remember all the experimentalists we were exposed to - there was a lot of historical territory to cover each semester and Brakhage was wont to intermix preiods based on conceptual themes rather than strict chronology. I do remember some pieces by Stan Vanderbeek, Kenneth Anger and Jonas Mekas. Scorpio Rising was, of course, amazing then and its still amazing now. Hugely hugely influential.

The time period I was in school and the a decade thereafter coincided with the "dance boom". Martha Graham was still active, Balanchine was still creating works of genius (til 1981 anyway) and the NYCB was at the height of its powers - Jerome Robbins was a potent force there too, stars abounded at ABT if you cared about that rep (Baryshnikov, Kirkland, Makarova), creativity was rampant uptown and downtown - Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Meredith Monk, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Mark Morris and many others. It's very thin pickins' nowdays. ABT packs em in to endless repeats of 19th century classics and NYCB is a pale shadow of its former self. Merce and Martha are gone, Twylas' in Europe, Mark Morris and Paul Taylor companies It's telling when soldier on, although everyone is struggling for funds.

Although it''s sometimes hard to hear in concert, I actually think contemporary classical music is in better shape now than it's been for quite some time...new opera, not so much, as the methods and forms pioneered in the 20th century are so inhospitable to "tunes" and human vocal chords. There are exceptions (e.g. Admas, Glass) but the money makers at opera houses are still Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss and Mozart. Which reminds me...I wish to God someone would release John Corigliano's Ghosts of Versailles on hi def DVD - my laser disc player is long gone.

But in general I agree that filmmaking still feels vital and exciting in a way that other arts don't quite (theater being a notable exception, and I'm sure there are curmudgeons who will lament to current state of cinema, especially experimental cinema.) It's telling, isnt' it, that NY's favorite artist Julian Schnabel is far more accomplished and interesting as a filmmaker than he ever was as a painter/sculptor/collage artist. I'm sure there's brilliant painting, sculpting and printmaking going on somewhere, but I just don't seem to care as much.

Meanwhile the avante garde cinema branch appears to have largely migrated to video, which is much cheaper and quicker to use than film, and lends itself to self distribution more easily. It's also easier to implement in mixed media installations.

Brakhage used to emphasize that film was a very young art form that would continue to evolve. I don't know what he thought of the possibilities of HD video and other tools because that became practicable long after I had contact with him. He felt story movies would always be with us as entertainment, because these were now apart our shared history, as stories told around the fire used to be. I don't follow the experimental filmmakers so much anymore, but so much of the pioneer's techniques have been approprited by the mainstream it gives a a twinge and a chuckle.

I didn't know you were Brasilian. Do you have any other recs for must-ee Brasilian/South American film?