Cremaster 3: The Order
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Fast Ali, Mike Bocchetti, Paul Brady (II), Peter Donald Badalamenti II, The Mighty BiggsDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 240 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Cremaster 3: The Order
Movie Review: Gorgeous, well-produced surrealist cinema
Summary: 5 Stars
It's not often that someone with artistic sensibilities as radical as director Matthew Barney's gets to make a movie that appears this well-financed. "The Order" not only kept my attention, it kept me thinking. Above all, I think it is a fun movie to watch.
Vivid, well-chosen colors--blues, pinks, shimmering silvers and creamy whites--bleed from the screen in what is an avante garde narrative about "The Entered Apprentice" [played by director/artist Matthew Barney] and his encounters on various levels inside a large building [which is actually the Guggenheim transformed by Barney into a representation of the "The Temple of Solomon"]. The movie's website goes into more detail about the plot and characters than could be done here; what should be emphasized, though, is the sheer watch-ability of this. Many avant garde films become tiresome, frustrating, or just plain boring. Barney's "The Order" manages to avoid this. In some respects, it's like watching a video game; other parts put one in the mind of the movie "The Cell," David Lynch, Luis Bunuel, or even some of director Andrew Blake's more lavish and recent x-rated films (though this is by no means x-rated, containing only topless nudity and no sex). If nothing else, "The Order" is enchanting eye candy--like having a richly detailed and colorful work of post modernist art unravel on your television screen.
I haven't seen any of the Cremaster Cycle movies. "The Order" is an excerpt from Cremaster 3, which apparently is the most enjoyable of the 5 movies that comprise the series, according to most reviews I've read. The DVD features a "film version" of "The Order," which is just a straight-up narrative; or one can choose between 5 or 6 "scenes," which are individually longer than the scenes watched back-to-back in the "film version." As well, when watching individual scenes one can use a menu in the lower right hand corner of the screen to navigate the video so that one can see what's happening concurrently on various levels of the structure the Entered Apprentice is navigating.
Before reading what "The Order" was really about--Masonic initiation rites and the Temple of Solomon--I thought I had it all figured out myself. To be honest, I still prefer my interpretation, and found the real story behind it to be a disappointment. Masonic initiation rites--well, that disappointed me. In my own head, I worked out the story as as being about The Entered Apprentice--that is, Matthew Barney-- attempting to ascend through various phases of his life, perhaps reflecting a life growing up in New York City [but later this interpretation was proven wrong when I found out Barney is actually from Boise, Idaho!].
The first level, "The Order of the Rainbow for Girls," shows Barney amidst what looks like a parody of radio City Music Hall's Rockettes, but dressed as cartoonish lambs. The playfulness here could represent childhood. Barney--sorry, The Entered Apprentice--then ascends to the next level, where he finds two New York City hardcore bands, Agnostic Front and Murphy's Law, dueling with each other by playing the opening riffs of their songs at one another. There's a circle pit in the middle; in the middle of this are several tools Barney must extract from the ground. This level could represent his teenage years, I thought. That's mostly who seem to be in the audience here--teens.
Barney goes up another level and encounters paralympics gold medalist Aimee Mullins using what look like glass prosthetic legs.Barney transforms into a kind of butcher-looking figure grotesquely distorted, again making one feel as if one is watching an outtake from "The Cell" or maybe a snippet from a particularly well-financed Marilyn Manson video [which is not a slam against the movie; let's be honest, it does look a bit like a music video in some parts]. In my brain, which was still trying to figure out what was going on, I thought this could have represented finding true love, getting married, etc. The woman turns on Barney, bites him, and changes into a dangerous she-cat. The two fly out into the air in combat. Eventually Barney must get the tools from the circle pit and come back to kill her.
Alas, I realized my interpretation of the movie was incorrect when I researched the film further. Oh well. At least it gets one thinking analytically.
If you're into hardcore punk, you should get, or at least rent, the movie just to see the unexpected appearances of Agnostic Front and Murphy's Law. I was blown away to find these two tough guy, thugcore-ish bands appearing in this, an outre, surrealist movie. Watching the two bands swivel on their podiums in the intro got a chuckle out of me. Some of the "extras" on the DVD include 6 songs from each band.
Apparently the full Cremaster series is supposed to be released on DVD "soon." However, I'll probably this, as I'm a fan of experimental cinema, and, as I've said before, I simply found this a fun movie to watch. I wouldn't say that "The Order" alone is up there with Luis Bunuel or Alejandro Jodorwosky, but as spectacle I can think of nothing like it I've seen that quite measures up in recent years.
Similar DVD Movies
BILL VIOLA: I Do Not Know What It Is I Am LikeRelease date: 2006-11-08; DVD
Best price: $43.00
Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986Image Entertainment; Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $22.94
Price in other shops:
Rothko's Rooms / Mark RothkoJOHNSON,PHILIP; Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
By Brakhage: Anthology (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2003-06-10; Published: 2003-06-01; DVD
Best price: $18.99
Price in other shops:
Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers & TidesNew Video; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
BILL VIOLA: THE PASSINGRelease date: 2006-11-08; DVD
Best price: $43.00
Seven Easy Pieces By Marina AbramovicRelease date: 2010-03-30; DVD
Best price: $29.88
Price in other shops:
Exit Through the Gift ShopOSCILLOSCOPE PICTURES; Release date: 2010-12-14; DVD
Best price: $15.96
Price in other shops:
Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycleby Nancy Spector, Neville Wakefield
Guggenheim Museum Publications; Published: 2002-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $190.00
Matthew Barney: No RestraintGenius; Release date: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: