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While you go out to see most other kinds of movies, you must go inward to see the extraordinary avant-garde films of Stan Brakhage. Foremost among American experimental film artists, Brakhage influenced the evolution of the moving image for nearly 50 years (his impact is readily seen on MTV), and this meticulously prepared Criterion Collection anthology represents a virtual goldmine of Brakhage's finest, most challenging work. Challenging because--as observed by Brakhage film scholar Fred Camper in the accompanying booklet--these 26 carefully selected films require the viewer to be fully receptive to "the act of seeing with one's own eyes" (to quote the title of one film, consisting entirely of autopsy footage), which is to say, open to the perceptual and psychological responses that are provoked by Brakhage's non-narrative shorts, ranging here from nine seconds to 31 minutes in length. While "Dog Star Man" (1961-64) is regarded as Brakhage's masterpiece, what emerges from this superb collection is the creative coherence of Brakhage's total vision. Through multilayered textures (often painted or scratched directly on film) and infinite combinations of imagery and rhythmic cutting, these films (most of them soundless) represent the most daring and purely artistic fulfillment of Criterion's ongoing goal to preserve important films on DVD. --Jeff Shannon
Video Details
Working completely outside the mainstream, Stan Brakhage has made nearly 400 films over the past half century. Challenging all taboos in his exploration of "birth, sex, death, and the search for God," Brakhage has turned his camera on explicit lovemaking, childbirth, even actual autopsy. Many of his most famous works pursue the nature of vision itself and transcend the act of filming. Some, including the legendary Mothlight, were made without using a camera at all. Instead, Brakhage has pioneered the art of making images directly on film itself––starting with clear leader or exposed film, then drawing, painting, and scratching it by hand. Treating each frame as a miniature canvas, Brakhage can produce only a quarter- to a half-second of film a day, but his visionary style of image-making has changed everything from cartoons and television commercials to MTV music videos and the work of such mainstream moviemakers as Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, and Oliver Stone.
Criterion is proud to present 26 masterworks by Stan Brakhage in high-definition digital transfers made from newly minted film elements. For the first time on DVD, viewers will be able to look at Brakhage's meticulously crafted frames one by one.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
be sure b 4 u buy!!!!,
By crown of indica "buckethead noir" (saint paul,mn,usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: By Brakhage: Anthology (DVD)
be warned!this dvd is not going to appeal to the "average joe" because it doesn't make much sense and is to be considered art.if that actually sounds trippy to you,you'll probably love it as I do!this is the perfect example of just why dvd's are such an improved format versus vhs-many of the images mr brakhage presents to the viewer go by so quickly you find it hard to distinguish what they look like,or somtimes there is a frame that looks so trippy you just have to pause it.and that is the real treat-the fact that you can pause the frames(to have these films on vhs format would absolutly suck because it would look so crappy paused).another good thing about the dvd is stan's commentary on most of the films.he helps the viewer to put into perspective his ideas on what he hoped to accomplish or put forth on each film.the squeamish will want to steer clear of the film with the autopsy footage,but all the others should be acceptable to most folks.the bottom line is that it's a great dvd that'll provide hours upon hours of entertainment,and any lover of the arts should grab this one up!(one thing I found that makes for an even more interesting experience while watching the films is to put on some music because most of them are silent.some musical suggestings to go along are buckethead's "electric tears",any angelo badalamenti movie score,litsz' dante symphony,any kronos quartet,and of coarse philip glass.these are all pretty mellow cd's with lots of "color" to them with goes VERY well with the overall tempo of the films.)
5.0 out of 5 stars
be sure b 4 u buy!!!!,
By crown of indica "buckethead noir" (saint paul,mn,usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: By Brakhage: Anthology (DVD)
be warned!this dvd is not going to appeal to the "average joe" because it doesn't make much sense and is to be considered art.if that actually sounds trippy to you,you'll probably love it as I do!this is the perfect example of just why dvd's are such an improved format versus vhs-many of the images mr brakhage presents to the viewer go by so quickly you find it hard to distinguish what they look like,or somtimes there is a frame that looks so trippy you just have to pause it.and that is the real treat-the fact that you can pause the frames.another good thing about the dvd is stan's commentary on most of the films.he helps the veiwer to put into perspective his ideas on what he hoped to accomplish or put forth on each film.the squeamish will want to steer clear of the film with the autopsy footage,but all the others should be acceptable to most folks.the bottom line is that it's a great dvd that'll provide hours upon hours of entertainment,and any lover of the arts should grab this one up!(one thing I found that makes for an even more interesting experience while watching the films is to put on some music because most of them are silent.some musical suggestings to go along are buckethead's "electric tears",any angelo badalamenti movie score,litsz' dante symphony,any kronos quartet,and of coarse philip glass.these are all pretty mellow cd's with lots of "color" to them with goes VERY well with the overall tempo of the films.)
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Haunting Overview of a Life's Work in Film,
By
This review is from: By Brakhage: Anthology (DVD)
This two-disc DVD set contains twenty-six experimental films by Stan Brakhage. The total playing time is approximately two hundred and forty-three minutes. Three short video encounters of the filmmaker are included on disc two, and a 24-page booklet, of supporting documentation by Fred Camper, is supplied in the deluxe DVD case.Disc one consists of four films, shot mostly before 1964, with Brakhage in his role as a mountain dwelling family man. Here he photographs a drunken party, scenes of himself making love to his wife and uses extended shots of himself as a woodsman chopping logs. The first three films are mostly edited in an abstract manner, with a generous use of multiple exposures. The fourth film, "The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes", is a more literal exploration of the facts surrounding bodily death. It is shot with a sense of reverence and distant objectivity towards the remains of the human body. Disc two consists mostly of silent films. The first two consist of representational images and deal with both sex and childbirth. Most of the next twenty films were made by hand painting film stock and then using a range of optical printing techniques to achieve an amazing spatial/temporal image sequence variety. The highlight of this set of films is "Untitled ( For Marilyn )" [ 1992 ]. This film intercuts existential poetry, Brakhage's hand film painting techniques and haunting processed photography of a local church. Much as in the reading of good poetry texts, one should perhaps watch these films a few at a time, in order to savor the nuances available in each work. The short video "encounters" with the artist suggest, that even with his retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, Brakhage wonders whether pursuing a life as a filmmaker might be considered to be madness. One can clearly see the wisdom of his life's choice, however, in the act of viewing these captivating experimental films.
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