I have to say, I am usually quite patient with artistic license. I have enjoyed some surrealistic efforts that boggled the mind but were still visually interesting. This one made absolutely no sense to me. First of all, I had to strain my eyes to see anything that looked remotely recognizable. I was trying hard to see where death fit in here. It made me wonder if this was supposed to be the hallucinations of a person who was ready to cross over.
3 Reviews
visually interesting short by brakhage
framptonhollis30 December 2016
Although it did get a little tedious towards the end, despite only being a mere 10 minutes in length, this is still a very visually stunning and fascinating film by Stan Brakhage, a man who may be the ultimate experimental filmmaker.
There is no plot to speak of. It is essentially just a collection of bizarre images that Brakhage filmed and fooled around with afterwards, creating a surreal and sometimes jarring experience. It's overall mood and tone is slightly bleaker and drearier than Brakhage's other early works, mainly because of how much darker it was visually. The colors Brakhage uses all throughout this film are just of a very dark tone, there are many grays, blacks, blues, etc.
There is no plot to speak of. It is essentially just a collection of bizarre images that Brakhage filmed and fooled around with afterwards, creating a surreal and sometimes jarring experience. It's overall mood and tone is slightly bleaker and drearier than Brakhage's other early works, mainly because of how much darker it was visually. The colors Brakhage uses all throughout this film are just of a very dark tone, there are many grays, blacks, blues, etc.
Dead upon arrival
Horst_In_Translation12 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"The Dead" is a 10-minute short film from over 55 years ago already and a collaboration between filmmaker Stan Brakhage, back then really early in his career still) and Kenneth Anger, two names that are fairly respected in the experimental movie scene, probably back then even more than today. And Anger's influence shows as the title certainly fits his usually darker approach to movies. But I am not the greatest Brakhage fan at all and this movie is just another disappointment. I am fairly glad it was over so quickly as the action was truly uninteresting and it was virtually impossible to see what was going on. The result may also be a lowpoint in Anger's career. I do not recommend the watch.
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