Dog Star Man: Part II

*My rating and review of Prelude, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 is the same* Simultaneously travelling through the solar system and cell system without bearings and guided only by a man and his dog. Brakhage throws images at you at such a rate that he is always a split second ahead of your capacity to process these images in an interpretative way, which leaves you with just impressions, but as you soon realise these impressions are highly stimulating and you crave more.

A furious mix of some of the most sinister imagery Brakhage has ever conjured and home footage of his cute baby -- this odd juxtaposition gives off an explosion of varied emotions and reactions. The effects Brakhage uses are excellent and never seem contrived or wanky.

Definitely my favorite part of the series as it was the only one during which I wasn't waiting for 'The End' to appear. The images revolved around a baby and some other stuff I can't remember but I connected with it for some reason and the mix of concreteness and abstractness worked really well for me.

Amazing to watch solely on the basis of the various techniques Brakhage helped pioneer (e.g., superimposition, rapid cutting) and take to their formal limits, all of which have had a profound impact on film aesthetics in the decades since its creation. The complete absence of sound allows for greater contemplation of the images shown, becoming a sort of antithesis to oral storytelling; here, we create the sounds in our head. *I AM RATING EACH PART THE SAME, AS I RATE 'DSM' AS A SINGLE FILM*

continues the odyssey of the snowy hill man, but with increasing focus on a baby. maybe we were wrong! maybe the demon baby is the dog star man! ranked as one film.

Trickier and trickier.

This one returns to the quicker, more chaotic approach. It contains lots of the bizarre designs that I enjoy, and I like the way they're superimposed over the baby.