The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Kenneth AngerDVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
DVD Release Date: 2007-01-23
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Fantoma
Movie Reviews of The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1
Movie Review: Fantomas' DVDs have absolutely solidified my appreciation of Anger as a filmmaker.
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is for Volumes I and II. I had seen most of these films before on VHS, and my response was lukewarm. I found them intriguing, but I wasn't really enthusiastic.
What a difference this presentation makes!
Looking crisp and vibrant, these films now sparkle like luminous celluloid gems, and, watching in chronological order, you can see that a strong style is present from the beginning, and you can also watch as Anger's craft and technique develop. The extra material (which I only exposed myself to after watching the films fresh again) provide context and a lot of added value - but the glittering transfers of these visually exciting little treasures are the real star here.
I was never a huge fan of 'Fireworks,' which I realize predates the film work of Genet and Cocteau. The influence is undeniable, but 'Un Chant d'Amour' is still the king of this sort of thing, as far as I'm concerned, for its sheer expressiveness. That said, I got more out of 'Fireworks' for being able to actually SEE it. 'Fireworks' and 'Puce Moment' are interesting (maybe even endearing) little DIY mood pieces, but they can only hint at what's coming.
It isn't until 'Rabbit's Moon' that we see a more polished filmmaker begin to emerge, but 'Eau d'Artifice' is where I really found myself getting on board, and by the time we arrive at the Pleasure Dome I am hooked.
'Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome' is actually, probably, my favorite of Anger's films, and the vibrancy of the transfer here had me transfixed and intoxicated. At first it seemed a bit dark, but as the film went on it seemed probable that the high contrast was intentional - the blacks are as deeply saturated as the colors, and it's all something to behold.
Yes, it's all done on a shoestring, using whatever happens to be around. That actually makes it even more fascinating. It is often very difficult to sort out whether Anger is doing something very modest, but doing it spectacularly, or doing something spectacular very modestly. The certain thing is that he can achieve the spectacular on very modest means, while the current crop in Hollywood can spend spectacular amounts of money producing dull and mediocre banality. That's really something, the ability to produce wonder from (or to find it in) the commonplace (which is where it must exist).
I might as well insert my disclaimer here that if you have no interest in the history of cinema or in avant garde cinema you probably won't be interested in the slightest, and could easily find yourself wondering why all the fuss over someone's bizarro old home-movies. One of the things that makes these films intriguing for me is that they ARE NOT Hollywood, and at the same time they GENUINELY ARE Hollywood - in the most real sense. The sensibility, the physical location, the iconography... Anger occupies a place that I don't think anyone else does.
Volume II starts off with 'Scorpio Rising,' far more interesting and enjoyable than the last time I saw it, but by this time I'm into Anger's groove, and I don't need anything but the archetypes, the symbols, the images... Now I can see why it's famous: it's about a mythology being invented with images.
I hadn't seen 'Kustom Kar Kommandos' before, but this little fragment is another favorite in the set. You can smell the paint and chrome. You can taste it, too, and it tastes like Kandy. Very nice, and one of the most irresistibly sensual bits of film I've seen in a long time.
'Invocation Of My Demon Brother' is the jerry-rigged mirror of the later, far more polished 'Lucifer Rising' - and 'Lucifer' (featuring a wonderful made-in-prison score by Bobby Beausoleil) looks and sounds great here. The image is a bit soft, but that appears to be inherent in the source elements. It doesn't detract from the experience at all, hypnotic, for those who can get into it.
We also get a shorter, very different version of 'Rabbit's Moon' and a look at the artwork of the man who founded the religion Thelema - which has strongly influenced the visuals of a lot of these films, so much so that watching them is like thumbing through a Tarot deck based in 20th century symbology.
All of the films have informative commentaries by Anger, who remains silent when he has nothing to say, and can actually get away with describing the action onscreen, because the action is so often an obscure expression. Angers' synopses in the included booklets are also helpful in this respect - but, as I said, I watched these films without all of that deliberately the first time. I wanted to make sure that they stood up on their own as cinema without any context or explanation, and they do.
The booklets are quite good, featuring snippets and appreciations, etc., and there is a very nice alternate music track for 'Invocation.' All in all I have to say that the folks at Fantomas have outdone themselves, and this is one case where a DVD release has really given me an appreciation of an important filmmaker that I can't say I had before. These discs are stunning.
When I made these purchases I wondered how happy I would actually be with them, given my previously so-so response to Anger's work. My feeling now is that it was money VERY well spent, and that the reevaluation was worthwhile, enlightening and a real joy all around.
Summary of The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1
Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous HOLLYWOOD BABYLON books and creator of some of the most striking and beautiful works in the history of film, Kenneth Anger is a singular figure in post-war American culture.A major influence on everything from the films of Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and David Lynch to the pop art of Andy Warhol to MTV, Anger's work serves as a talisman of universal symbols and personal obsessions, combining myth, artifice and ritual to render cinema with the power of spell or incantation.
Covering the first half of Anger's career, from his landmark debut FIREWORKS in 1947 to his epic bacchanalia INAGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME, Fantoma is very proud to present the long-awaited first volume of films by this revolutionary and groundbreaking maverick, painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time.
Contains the films:
Fireworks (1947)
Puce Moment (1949)
Rabbit's Moon (1950, the rarely seen original 16 minute version)
Eaux d'Artifice (1953)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)
Recently restored by the UCLA Film Archive, Kenneth Anger's difficult-to-see early films are finally collected here onto DVD, alongside optional fascinating commentary by Anger himself. Scores of Anger fans have previously persevered through horrid rented VHS copies of these films, due to their inimitable beauty and strangeness. Anger is renowned for filmic experimentation that portrays invented occult or druggy subcultures while formally rejecting conventions of blockbuster filmmaking. As a result, he has also become the unofficial godfather of the music video, for his groundbreaking use of soundtracks that, in these early films at least, meld classical music with '50s bubble gum pop and '60s folk for a hypnotic, psychedelic effect. Fireworks is a monumental film credited as gay cinema's first masterpiece. Rabbit's Moon, presented in its original 16-minute version, and Eaux d'Artifice are Anger's two other brilliant black-and-white studies of European culture, namely Miming and the 17th century art of Water Fountains. Anger's commentary reveals directorial secrets, for example that Eaux d'Artifice's black-and-white appearance is tromp l'oeil that involved both manipulation of the camera and film development to heighten the film's metaphoric notion of artifice. Puce Moment, starring Yvonne Marquis, is a colorful, campy tribute to silent film glamour, in which the star debates what gown to wear for a party. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome is the first Anger film to investigate mythology in relation to Aleister Crowley's witchcraft, subject matter that consumed Anger in consequent projects. Kenneth Anger's films exist in a timeless, stylized void that is both alluring and terrifying. Watching these selections will prove that Anger's aesthetic contributions to cinema are noticeable fifty years later. --Trinie Dalton
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in My DVD collection, Part Two
The Jungle Book (40th Anniversary Platinum Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $11.88
Price in other shops:
The Radley Metzger Collection, Vol. 1 (Therese and Isabelle / The Alley Cats / Camille 2000)METZGER,RADLEY; Release date: 2004-11-23; DVD
Best price: $30.67
Price in other shops:
The Final Destination Thrill-Ogy (Final Destination/ Final Destination 2/ Final Destination 3)Unknown; Release date: 2006-07-25; DVD
Best price: $18.45
Price in other shops:
Dynamic:01 - The Best Of DavidLynch.comRyko Distribution; Release date: 2007-01-30; DVD
Best price: $17.02
Price in other shops:
The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 2Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $16.94
Price in other shops:
The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 1Release date: 2007-01-23; DVD
Best price: $15.10
Price in other shops:
The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection (The Wolf Man / Werewolf of London / Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / She-Wolf of London)WOLFMAN, THE: THE LEGACY COLLECTION (DVD MOVI; Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops:
Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)FRANKENSTEIN: THE LEGACY COLLECTION (DVD MOVI; Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops:
The Adventures of Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark/ Temple of Doom/ Last Crusade) - Widescreen EditionFORD,HARRISON; Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $39.99
Price in other shops:
Madonna - The Confessions TourDVD
Best price: $49.74
Similar DVD Movies
La Jetee/ Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-06-26; DVD
Best price: $24.95
Price in other shops:
The Conformist (Extended Edition)PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $8.20
Price in other shops:
By Brakhage - Anthology - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2003-06-10; DVD
Best price: $27.22
Price in other shops:
Maya Deren: Experimental FilmsRelease date: 2007-06-26; DVD
Best price: $16.72
Price in other shops:
Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930sRelease date: 2005-08-02; DVD
Best price: $18.34
Price in other shops:
David Lynch's Inland Empire (Limited Edition Two-Disc Set)Ryko Distribution; Release date: 2007-08-14; DVD
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops:
Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema 1928-1954Release date: 2007-07-24; DVD
Best price: $18.04
Price in other shops:
PerformanceWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-02-13; DVD
Best price: $11.18
Price in other shops:
The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain)JODORWSKY,ALEJANDRO; Release date: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops:
The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 2Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $17.66
Price in other shops: