BRAKHAGE (1999) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia RATING: Four stars
"Brakhage" is a hypnotic, reverential documentary on one of the most experimental, purely filmic filmmakers in history. Having seen some of the short films he made including "Window Water Baby Moving," "Creation," "Dog Star Man," and others, I was surprised to find a gentle, caring man of ill health who nevertheless spoke in common sense terms about his films, and their inherent meanings. His films are purely images, either scratched, painted, or using several superimpositions, or all the above. Some are more like home movies, as is one where there are hauntingly beautiful clips of his children in slow-motion, and the images are often cut from color images to negative images.
"Brakhage" shows several clips of the man himself, and insightful commentary on his children and how they felt when they were photographed most of their lives, and how his ex-wife struggled with his idiosyncratic moods regarding his mental processes of counting, I assume, the number of frames in each of his films while editing. Brakhage also makes vivid comments on why his films have no sound, declaring that film art lost its purity when sound was introduced in the late 20's.
Many will feel that Stan Brakhage makes beautiful use of images, and his rhythmic patterns of editing, at times jarring to the naked eye, are well-constructed yet what else is there? Is this man saying anything specific in his layered style of imagery? Perhaps, perhaps not. That is entirely up to the viewer to decide. I love Brakhage's works because they are purely visual, and nothing more which is not to say they are insubstantial or lacking in content. To pick an example, I would say that the controversial "Window Water Baby Moving" is one of the finest, most educational films ever made on childbirth.
The documentary itself uses jarring, screeching sound effects that are not essential in capturing the man and his work, especially if most of it is silent. Also, it would have been nice to hear from people who perhaps developed an antipathy towards his works...some members of the audience screening I attended certainly did. Nevertheless, this is an exemplary, insightful documentary by director Jim Shedden guaranteed to fascinate and provoke many. A must-see, and one of the finest films of 1999.
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