Jane Brakhage

One of the key works of the American avant-garde of the 1960s, DOG STAR MAN is no less than an abstract vision of the creation of the universe, an epic work consisting of a prelude and four parts (Rotten Tomatoes)

This documentary profiles legendary avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage, who made more than 300 short films and features. Brakhage discusses his lengthy career, from his rise to fame in the early 1950s to his late-period experiments in scratching celluloid. Family members are interviewed about Brakhage's devotion to his art, while directors testify to his influence. When Brakhage is diagnosed with cancer, he wonders whether his work with film may literally kill him.

Images of two women, two men, and a gray cat form a montage of rapid bits of movement. A woman is in a bedroom, another wears an apron: they work with their hands, occasionally looking up. A man enters a room, a woman smiles. He sits, another man sits and smokes. The cat stretches. There are close-ups of each. The light is dim; a filter accentuates red. A bare foot stands on a satin sheet. A woman disrobes. She pets the cat.

Stan Brakhage films the birth of his first child, Myrrena. (imdb)

We see a film negative of a nude couple embracing in bed. Then, back in regular black and white images, we see them alone and together, clothed, at home. It's night, she sees his reflection in the window, she closes the drapes. After sex, again in a black and white negative, they sit, smoke, have coffee. They kiss, she smiles. They light candles.

We move back and forth between scenes of a family at home and thoughts about the stars and creation. Children hold chickens while an adult clips their wings; we see a forest; a narrator talks about stars and light and eternity. A dog joins the hens and the family, while the narrator explains the heavens. We see a bee up close. The narrator suggests metaphors for heavenly bodies. Scenes fade into a black screen or dim purple; close-ups of family life may be blurry. The words about the heavens, su

This film describes a psychological state 'kin to "moon-struck," its images emblems (not quite symbols) of suspension-of-self within consciousness and then that feeling of "falling away" from conscious thought. The film can only be said to "describe" or be emblematic of this state because it's impossible symbolizing or otherwise representing an equivalent of thoughtlessness (musicafilm.it)

A creation myth realized in light, patterns, images superimposed, rapid cutting, and silence. A black screen, then streaks of light, then an explosion of color and squiggles and happenstance. Next, images of small circles emerge then of the Sun. Images of our Earth appear, woods, a part of a body, a nude woman perhaps giving birth. Imagery evokes movement across time. (imdb)

An experimental film from Stan Brakhage in which a man and his dog ascend a wooded mountain.