DanielBenoit
09-21-2010, 01:42 PM
Okay this is a controversial "genre" in cinema since it's altogether deliberately separate and subversive of mainstream cinema, but it is certainly an art which has been frowned upon even by cinemaphiles as either mental masturbation or something totally incomprehensible. Of course, there are plenty of experimental directors who just revel in the practice of seeming soooo profound, but there are certainly plenty, if not a great deal of artists in experimental cinema who have made a profound and wide-variety of art ranging from Syberberg's Hitler: A Film from Germany to Brakhage's Mothlight.
As the assumption is likely true that not many people are familiar with avant-garde cinema it is best if I mention again that it is experimental, hence, almost always non-narrative, sometimes surrealist, sometimes even non-photographic (Brakhage), etc.
Here are some of the early masterpieces that common cinemaphiles are familiar with:
Un Chien Andalou - Directed by the immortal Spaniards Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, this film pretty much started avant-garde cinema and was so controversial at its first screening, that it caused a riot. It's also known for having the most shocking opening in all of cinema. (Check out all of Bunuel's other works as well.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUaP-IB-2Gs&feature=related
The Man with the Movie Camera - Directed by Dziga Vertov. A personal favorite of mine, this pretty much invented the language of experimental cinema with using everything from jump cuts to split screens. Vertov's motive for making the film was to create a cinema that borrowed from neither literature (hence no screenplay) nor theater (hence no actors or plot), and thus 'pure cinema'.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809965914189244913# (best to watch without the music)
Meshes of the Afternoon - Directed by Maya Deren. Pretty much the beginning of American avant-garde cinema, this film really seemed to have influenced Lynch with its psycho-sexual symbolism and free-floating camera-work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi9i3gfSAM
Window Water Baby Moving - Directed by Stan Brakhage. An extremely moving illustration of Brakhage's early period: This is pretty much a loose, poetic and VERY EXPLICIT illustration of one of the most beautiful and painful things in the world: childbirth. To male viewers: If you are scared of seeing babies come out of bloody vagina, DO NOT watch this then. Please be mature and recognize the beauty and poetry in this wonderful film and DO NOT watch this in front of kiddies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-drSrvTtZ1k
Report - Directed by Bruce Conner. One of the most haunting films I've seen in a while, this grand and ambitious depiction of the JFK assassination through found footage and audio is not only a masterful illustration of the event, but of the times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIAsH40Kqk
Scorpio Rising - Directed by Kenneth Anger. An underground phenomenon with very clear homosexual undertones. Influenced Scorsese and almost the entirety of the Hollywood New Wave with its "cool" hipness, fast-cutting, and use of pop music on the soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyuVNULabjM
Wavelength - Directed by Michael Snow. Known as the Citizen Kane of avant-garde cinema, this is nothing else but a 40 minute zoom in on the wall of a Manhattan apartment. A study of space never before seen in cinema, you will likely either hate it within the first five minutes or love it all the way through. It may be better to read up on the film first before seeing it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3009876496807585942#
Mothlight - Directed by Stan Brakhage. The most famous film of Brakhage's 'abstract' period, which lasted for the rest of his career. If you liked this, definitely watch his epic Dog Star Man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt3nDgnC7M8&feature=related
Take 5:10 to Dreamland - Directed by Bruce Conner. My favorite of all avant-garde films, this hypnotic meditation of American nostalgia and memory is an amazing reflection on memory, illusion and the image itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4rG-_dGUzA
more to come
As the assumption is likely true that not many people are familiar with avant-garde cinema it is best if I mention again that it is experimental, hence, almost always non-narrative, sometimes surrealist, sometimes even non-photographic (Brakhage), etc.
Here are some of the early masterpieces that common cinemaphiles are familiar with:
Un Chien Andalou - Directed by the immortal Spaniards Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, this film pretty much started avant-garde cinema and was so controversial at its first screening, that it caused a riot. It's also known for having the most shocking opening in all of cinema. (Check out all of Bunuel's other works as well.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUaP-IB-2Gs&feature=related
The Man with the Movie Camera - Directed by Dziga Vertov. A personal favorite of mine, this pretty much invented the language of experimental cinema with using everything from jump cuts to split screens. Vertov's motive for making the film was to create a cinema that borrowed from neither literature (hence no screenplay) nor theater (hence no actors or plot), and thus 'pure cinema'.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2809965914189244913# (best to watch without the music)
Meshes of the Afternoon - Directed by Maya Deren. Pretty much the beginning of American avant-garde cinema, this film really seemed to have influenced Lynch with its psycho-sexual symbolism and free-floating camera-work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi9i3gfSAM
Window Water Baby Moving - Directed by Stan Brakhage. An extremely moving illustration of Brakhage's early period: This is pretty much a loose, poetic and VERY EXPLICIT illustration of one of the most beautiful and painful things in the world: childbirth. To male viewers: If you are scared of seeing babies come out of bloody vagina, DO NOT watch this then. Please be mature and recognize the beauty and poetry in this wonderful film and DO NOT watch this in front of kiddies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-drSrvTtZ1k
Report - Directed by Bruce Conner. One of the most haunting films I've seen in a while, this grand and ambitious depiction of the JFK assassination through found footage and audio is not only a masterful illustration of the event, but of the times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIAsH40Kqk
Scorpio Rising - Directed by Kenneth Anger. An underground phenomenon with very clear homosexual undertones. Influenced Scorsese and almost the entirety of the Hollywood New Wave with its "cool" hipness, fast-cutting, and use of pop music on the soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyuVNULabjM
Wavelength - Directed by Michael Snow. Known as the Citizen Kane of avant-garde cinema, this is nothing else but a 40 minute zoom in on the wall of a Manhattan apartment. A study of space never before seen in cinema, you will likely either hate it within the first five minutes or love it all the way through. It may be better to read up on the film first before seeing it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3009876496807585942#
Mothlight - Directed by Stan Brakhage. The most famous film of Brakhage's 'abstract' period, which lasted for the rest of his career. If you liked this, definitely watch his epic Dog Star Man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt3nDgnC7M8&feature=related
Take 5:10 to Dreamland - Directed by Bruce Conner. My favorite of all avant-garde films, this hypnotic meditation of American nostalgia and memory is an amazing reflection on memory, illusion and the image itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4rG-_dGUzA
more to come