Desistfilm

A silly "art" "film" with a sillier soundtrack. Less avant garde, more stylised narrative, there's some neat camera tricks here and there that play with the dimensions of space, but not much more substance than that.

A film that's meandering, but in a good way. It doesn't come across as a pile of old wank like so many experimental films, past and present, do. Brakhage, like Kenneth Anger and a handful of other people who work with film this way, has enough savoir faire such that you may not understand what he is saying -- if anything -- but you like how he says it. It probably helps that he does this in films that are short enough to not wear out their welcome :-)

One of those "me and my buddies fucking around with a camera" films from Brakhage's early career. It does feel more cohesive and less arbitrary than most of the others, but it's still rather thin material. The mutated soundtrack and quick editing help.

It's like you are a mechanical fly trapped in a room with a bunch of beatniks, and what is there to do other than fly around and watch them with your cinematic eyes. James Dean (not 'the' James Dean, but rather the type of person that Jimmy would come to iconise) comes to the door and eventually enters, which adds further inertia to the situation. Everyone then leaves except for a man and woman who embrace, and you're stuck as a voyeur with the others looking on.

I like the idea of depicting being isolated amongst others, which this film illustrates, but visually it just doesn't click with me. I got a fly on the wall type feel at first, then it becomes extra-subjective, which is interesting. I respect it, but I don't really like it.

Finally made the plunge on the Brakhage set. eh...yeah, so humble beginnings and all.

My least favorite Brakhage yet, by far. Not a complete failure as it's an interesting early effort, but thematically and stylistically it feels embryonic and a little bit try-hard. A few interesting ideas and moments though, including a surprising bit of homoerotic sexual awakening in an instance that strikes me as both violent and sensual. It clearly makes a statement about sexual and intellectual awakening in the era of the Beat generation, but a muddled and mediocre one.

Kind of cool I guess, though the soundtrack got annoying.

I enjoyed the soundtrack, the noise of it all didn't really bother me any. There are some good images here and there and the end was a little creepy.

A curious piece of historical ephemera. Nothing much to recommend it.

one of stan brakhage's first films is stupid and unpleasant, though the horror vibe became mildly effective by the end.

Amateur work but with a Pynchonesque quality that's difficult to achieve and worth noting.