From: Ted Sonnenschein (email suppressed)
Date: Tue Mar 31 2009 - 23:57:57 PDT
I actually dragged a bunch of my old high school friends to the Whitney to
see 23rd Psalm Branch when I was about 19 or 20. I went up real close and
center. There was almost nobody there and soon most of my friends trickled
out. I think because we could get in free, so many came with me and for a
while we were a chunk of space. It sort of scarred my reputation after that
as no one wanted me to suggest which film to see anymore. I still wonder
what I said to get so many to go there in the first place. Anyway, when it
ended, no one was around me up front. I thought they had all left but a few
had stayed around. They just floated to the back as it was a little too
intense up front. One friend had his headphones on. I think only one or two
other people were in the theater. It is definitely no introductory film but
having it on DVD and going through sections slowly will be fantastic. All
those 8mm edits is just insane. Around that time, there was the bombing of
Kuwait on the TV and it was just on and on and my Father and Brother were
watching it and it just drove me nuts--totally understanding the role of the
TV in the film and the pains one has to go through to watch the film.
Anyway, this looks like a great selection. Thanks for sharing the titles
with us.
Ted
On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 1:11 AM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
> Yes, 23rd Psalm Branch will be complete. And the Visions in Meditation
> Series will be complete. Other series are quite long, and if I had included
> another complete series, then too much would have been left out, as I was
> trying to provide a diverse selection from different periods and types of
> work. . . . I consulted with a number of people and went through many
> revisions before arriving at this list. These titles, and all the rest, are
> still available on film, so I hope people will continue to seek out more.
> The DVDs, of course, are not intended to replace the films! They are meant
> to introduce more people to Stan's work, and to provide a way for
> individuals so inclined to study some of them more closely.
>
> Marilyn
>
>
> On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at 11:27 AM, Jorge Amaro wrote:
>
> Dear Marilyn,
>>
>> That sounds fabulous! I'm just wondering if I may. Why did you decide
>> not include full series? Like in the case of the Persian Series, will
>> 23rd psalm branch be complete?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> J.
>>
>> 2009/3/31 Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed>:
>>
>>> To answer the question from Marcos: The Criterion set will be DVDs, but
>>> as
>>> all transfers are in high definition they would be able to, and may
>>> consider
>>> re-releasing them in Bluray at a later date. For now, not sure of the
>>> initial release date yet. We're probably still some months away, but the
>>> titles will be: The Wonder Ring; The Dead; Two: Creeley/McClure; 23rd
>>> Psalm
>>> Branch; Scenes From Under Childhood (Part One); The Machine of Eden; Star
>>> Garden; Desert; The Process; Burial Path; The Domain of the Moment;
>>> Murder
>>> Psalm; Duplicity III; Arabic 12; Visions in Meditatiion 1-4; Unconscious
>>> London Strata; Boulder Blues and Pearls And; The Mammals of Victoria;
>>> From:
>>> First Hymn to the NIght - Novalis; I Take These Truths; The Cat of the
>>> Worm's Green Realm; Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human Mind;
>>> Ellipsis #5; Persians 1-3; Chinese Series.
>>>
>>> Marilyn Brakhage
>>> Victoria BC
>>>
>>> On Monday, March 30, 2009, at 10:35 PM, Ted Sonnenschein wrote:
>>>
>>> That's some good news. Any chance you can leak the titles to us?
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 5:31 PM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Yes, it's a good idea, the traveling programs. There is occasionally
>>>> talk
>>>> of people wanting to mount a major retrospective, but I agree, that
>>>> breaking
>>>> that down into smaller chunks for touring would be great. . . . Though
>>>> these things always seem to take years to organize.
>>>>
>>>> In the meantime, the Criterion Company has a second DVD set now in the
>>>> works, whereby a number of films -- in that form, at least -- will be
>>>> more
>>>> available to people (including seven titles from the 70s).
>>>>
>>>> Marilyn Brakhage
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Monday, March 30, 2009, at 02:19 AM, Ted Sonnenschein wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I thought it a credit to Brakhage that no one has yet to take this on.
>>>> But, I also can't imagine many people have even seen even 75% of his
>>>> output.
>>>> When I was at SFAI around '90-'91, I was shocked at how negative so many
>>>> people were towards Brakhage. I mean, viciously negative. Even Keith
>>>> Sanborn, leading the intro class would take potshots. One time I
>>>> recommended
>>>> to Ernie Gehr that we watch 'Anticipation of the Night' when the film we
>>>> shot for the class wasn't back from the lab (Gehr had asked what he
>>>> thought
>>>> we should do instead). A few from the class started to get pissed off
>>>> and
>>>> saying all this crap against Brakhage. Something I was, at that time,
>>>> used
>>>> to hearing. Gehr just smiled and decided that this was a good idea after
>>>> all. Well, when that film ended, it shut them up. There was an air in
>>>> the
>>>> room that is hard to describe. My gut was just sore from all that
>>>> weight.
>>>> Gehr called for thoughts and impressions and looked at me. I had nothing
>>>> to
>>>> say. I don't think anyone did. I was glad to see that there is a new
>>>> generation that seems more respectful and interested.
>>>>
>>>> I had recently gone to look up some information on his 70s period and
>>>> realized then that in the dozen or so years since I looked, there wasn't
>>>> much new out there. Still, the only thing that bothered me is the work
>>>> isn't
>>>> regularly out there to see and would I ever get to see much works from
>>>> this
>>>> period. I think more important than scholars, would be someone
>>>> coordinating
>>>> touring programs of his work, ideally programmed by period. Has anyone
>>>> tried
>>>> to do anything like this? Well-programmed, I think, could really get the
>>>> ball rolling and possibly even finding people who would be into taking
>>>> on
>>>> the study of Brakhage's work. Plus, I am sure Brakhage has fans all over
>>>> the
>>>> world that could help get such a project rolling but I am sure most of
>>>> the
>>>> major film art screening houses would support such a project.
>>>>
>>>> Ted
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Well, as to Mason suggesting 'his wife': Not sure which wife you're
>>>> meaning. I am Stan Brakhage's second wife -- but, regrettably, not the
>>>> scholar Fred describes. Nevertheless, I have several comments:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Bruce Elder has written an impressive book that addresses some of
>>>> these towering ambitions (The Films of Stan Brakhage in the American
>>>> Tradition of Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Charles Olson), and of
>>>> course
>>>> there are a number of others, beginning with P. Adams Sitney, from whom
>>>> we
>>>> also have important parts of this envisioned massive undertaking. But
>>>> yes,
>>>> something more, something along the lines that Fred describes, is
>>>> definitely
>>>> needed.
>>>>
>>>> 2) I wholeheartedly agree that "more than one person taking it on"
>>>> would
>>>> not only be fine, but probably essential.
>>>>
>>>> 3) Though it may be true that it's important to be gathering
>>>> information
>>>> now, while people are still around who knew Stan, I can also guarantee
>>>> that
>>>> even doing that will lead to "information" being "disputed at great
>>>> lengths." Stan was many things to many people, full of apparent and
>>>> sometimes rather dramatic contradictions, his "complicated life story"
>>>> is
>>>> inextricably bound to his work, other people have their own subjective
>>>> experiences, subject to the vagaries of memory -- and there is already a
>>>> lot
>>>> of "information" floating around that I (for one) know to be untrue
>>>> and/or
>>>> would interpret quite differently than someone else might. Therefore
>>>> (and
>>>> because the sheer amount of information is so huge),
>>>>
>>>> 4) Well, to do it well would take someone who is also very brave, wise,
>>>> comprehensive in approach, sensitive and subtle in their writing . . .
>>>>
>>>> BUT -- no need to wait for the perfect human being! Anyone who takes on
>>>> even part of this project in good faith -- bravo!
>>>>
>>>> Marilyn Brakhage
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sunday, March 29, 2009, at 08:00 PM, Mason Shefa wrote:
>>>>
>>>> His wife?
>>>>
>>>> On Mar 28, 2009, at 1:38 PM, Fred Camper wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The recent talk about who is "THE" (or was that "THEE") "Brakhage
>>>> expert"
>>>> got me thinking. The world actually does not have the "Brakhage expert"
>>>> that
>>>> the scope and importance of his work requires. There is no "Brakhage
>>>> expert"
>>>> in the sense that in the academic community one can find, for example,
>>>> Ezra
>>>> Pound experts, or, more recently and sad (for me if not for others) to
>>>> say,
>>>> Bob Dylan experts and Madonna experts. I post this in the hope of
>>>> interesting a young scholar, or someone else such as a film professor
>>>> who
>>>> might interest a young scholar, in taking on this role. More than one
>>>> person
>>>> taking it on would be fine too!
>>>>
>>>> Obviously, the expert has to be devoted, ready to spend a large part of
>>>> her or his career on this. What's needed is someone with a deep interest
>>>> in,
>>>> love of, and understanding of both world cinema and Brakhage's work in
>>>> particular. But since a large part of this project would be a working
>>>> through of Brakhage's many influences and sources, this scholar should
>>>> have
>>>> deep involvements with and understandings of modern poetry, classical
>>>> music
>>>> from Bach to Webern to Messiaen, and Western painting. The scholar
>>>> should be
>>>> an avid reader, and willing and able to travel to various archives to
>>>> track
>>>> down Brakhage's voluminous writings, lectures, and correspondence. The
>>>> scholar should also be an extremely fine film viewer, both open to
>>>> multiple
>>>> ways of seeing and capable of very careful observation. I envision the
>>>> results would be both a massive critical biography and a shorter,
>>>> book-length introduction. Several threads would be present in both:
>>>> Brakhage's complicated life story, his artistic influences and the way
>>>> they
>>>> are reflected in his films, and examinations of the films from varied
>>>> perspectives.
>>>>
>>>> Partly I write this out of regret at never having taken on this task
>>>> myself. (For various reasons, I never felt up to it.) Obviously, a
>>>> scholar
>>>> who takes this on may have different ideas about what's needed; these
>>>> are
>>>> just my opinions. I also write out of regret at never having done the
>>>> kind
>>>> of massive, tape-recorded oral history I had thought of when Brakhage
>>>> and
>>>> some of his associates were still living. But many who knew and worked
>>>> with
>>>> him are still living, from a few of his high school friends to the
>>>> filmmakers who helped him in the making of his late films. If an oral
>>>> history is not done, the information lost will be disputed at great
>>>> lengths
>>>> by scholars far into the future -- just as scholars today are debating
>>>> facts
>>>> lost about arts from earlier centuries.
>>>>
>>>> Brakhage has a particular importance, due not only to the quality and
>>>> scope of his work but to its, and his, vast influence, but there are
>>>> many
>>>> other filmmakers worthy of study in depth. Interested film scholars
>>>> should,
>>>> in my view, be devoting as much time to such projects, including
>>>> gathering
>>>> facts from living people in the present, as is now devoted to "theory,"
>>>> or
>>>> to arguing about things that happened in 1897 that we will likely never
>>>> know
>>>> about for sure. Sadly, though, in the current climate the latter two
>>>> options
>>>> may be better career moves.
>>>>
>>>> Fred Camper
>>>> Chicago
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _____________________
>>>> Mason Shefa
>>>> email suppressed
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________________________ For
>>>> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________________________ For
>>>> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________________________
>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>
>>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.