From Amos Vogel’s Film as a Subversive Art:
One of the very few Brakhage films to have a plot and be acted, this bitter and wise polemic pits an actor who constantly confesses his role against an unseen audience. He sarcastically mocks our belief in filmic truth, disclaiming the omnipotence we ascribe to him and the director and insists on the falsehood and artificiality of the art work. This is a very modern film of ambiguity, mixed tenses, skepticism, and ultimately, anguish at the realization that the artist is both con-man and magician, impotently straining for unattainable perfection yet inevitably being taken seriously by an audience panting to be duped.Read More »
Short Film
-
Stan Brakhage – Blue Moses (1962)
1961-1970Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtExperimentalShort FilmStan BrakhageUSA -
István Szöts – Melyiket a kilenc közül? AKA Which of the Nine? (1956)
1951-1960DramaHungaryIstván SzötsShort FilmIstvan Szőts’s short, Christmas-themed film starring József Bihari and Andor Ajtay, based on Mór Jókai’s novel of the same title. The premier of the film was in the Venice Film Festival in 1957, where it received recognition.
Only a TV-rip is available at the moment.Read More »
-
Jean-Marie Straub – Einleitung zu Arnold Schoenbergs Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene AKA Introduction to Arnold Schoenberg’s Accompaniment to a Cinematic Scene (1973)(HD)
1971-1980ArthouseGermanyJean-Marie StraubShort FilmQuote:
In 1923, sensing the gathering storm of “fear, danger, and catastrophe” in Germany, the composer Arnold Schoenberg wrote a devastatingly prescient and heartbreaking letter to his former friend, the painter Wassily Kandinsky. Schoenberg aligned his fate with that of all Jews, knowing they were soon to face exile or violent death. Straub-Huillet’s film, a recitation both of Schoenberg’s letter and Bertolt Brecht’s 1935 speech to the International Congress in Defense of Culture, is a fierce condemnation of anti-Semitism, German crimes against humanity, and the barbaric war machine of capitalism.
—MoMARead More » -
Jean-Marie Straub – Einleitung zu Arnold Schoenbergs Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene AKA Introduction to Arnold Schoenberg’s Accompaniment to a Cinematic Scene (1973)
1971-1980ArthouseGermanyJean-Marie StraubShort FilmQuote:
In 1923, sensing the gathering storm of “fear, danger, and catastrophe” in Germany, the composer Arnold Schoenberg wrote a devastatingly prescient and heartbreaking letter to his former friend, the painter Wassily Kandinsky. Schoenberg aligned his fate with that of all Jews, knowing they were soon to face exile or violent death. Straub-Huillet’s film, a recitation both of Schoenberg’s letter and Bertolt Brecht’s 1935 speech to the International Congress in Defense of Culture, is a fierce condemnation of anti-Semitism, German crimes against humanity, and the barbaric war machine of capitalism.
—MoMARead More » -
Sogo Ishii – Hachiju-Hachi-Man Bun no Ichi no Kodoku aka The Solitude of One Divided by 880,000 (1978)
1971-1980AsianJapanShort FilmSogo IshiiIMDB says:
An elegiac ode to a loner who finds it difficult to fit in and the inevitable eruption of his frustration, Isolation of 1/880000 tells the story of Takemitsu, a disabled young man caught in the “examination hell” of trying to get into one of Japan’s top universities. Director Sogo Ishii (now renamed as Gakuryu Ishii) was the original 8mm punk, whose works expressed unhinged energy and made speed, intensity and rebellion their stylistic and thematic center, carrying over into his later 16mm and 35mm films such as Crazy Thunder Road and Crazy Family. In contrast, Isolation prefigures the more ethereal aesthetic of his big budget 1990s films.Read More » -
Sofia Alaoui – Qu’importe si les bêtes meurent AKA So What if The Goats Die (2020)
2011-2020African CinemaFranceShort FilmSofia AlaouiSynopsis
Abdellah, a young shepherd living in the mountains, is forced to brave the snow blocking him in order to get food and save his cattle. Once he gets to the village, he faces a supernatural phenomenon.(imdb)Read More » -
Richard Lester & Peter Sellers – The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960)
1951-1960Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtComedyPeter SellersRichard LesterShort FilmUnited Kingdom“Shot in two days, this wild early collaboration between Peter Sellers, Richard Lester (Hard Day’s Night), and Spike Milligan (of the Goon Show) is a perfect example of surrealist comedy. The various protagonists undergo ridiculous catastrophes, exaggerated non-sequiturs, and Keystonian mayhem in a sylvan setting. Produced at hardly any cost at all, it proves once again that talent is more important than money.”
– Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive ArtRead More » -
Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar – La foire agricole (2019)
2011-2020BelgiumComedyShort FilmStéphane AubierVincent PatarWith hard work and self-sacrifice, Indian and Cowboy brilliantly passed their school exams. As a reward, Horse bought them VIP tickets for the Agricultural Fair. As he leaves the living room to get the tickets, Horse slips on a skateboard that hangs there and falls heavily on the head. Result, Horse finds himself amnesic in the hospital and does not remember at all where he hid the tickets. For Indian and Cowboy begins a race against time to try to get hold of the precious sesames …Read More »
-
Mitchell Block – …No Lies [+Extras] (1974)
1971-1980DocumentaryMitchell BlockShort FilmUSASynopsis
A young filmmaking student turns his camera on a female friend as she gets ready to go out for the night. She soon reveals to him she was sexually assaulted a few days before.Read More »