the cremaster cycle

[cowboykurtis]

i've only seen the first one.
im actually impressed that this is getting mentioned here.
did anyone get to the barney gugenheim exhibit?
i can't wait to get ahold of the rest of the series, but im sure ordering them from the gallery is expensive as hell.

i saw his exibit at the gugenheim a couple months ago -- very impressive.

[godardian]

I just watched the trailer for the first time; wow, that looks truly amazing. Even better, the website says the whole cycle will be playing in Dallas in June. Huzzah!

I know that Cremaster 3 was shot in Hi-Def; it looks fantastic.

The whole cycle hits Seattle in July. I'll be there. I saw a couple of them at the Portland Art Museum a couple of years ago... I believe it was Cremaster 2. Whichever; it puts the Gary Gilmore mystique and the resemblance of electric guitar roar to the swarm-buzzing of bees to excellent effect. I can't wait to experience the whole series.

On the gossip side: Didn't he and Bjork just have a baby recently?

[Ghostboy]

Lucky guy! The youngest guy to ever have an exhibit in the Guggenheim, an auteur who can make whatever he wants without any worry about financial performance, and to top it all off, he also gets to have a relationship with Bjork.

[DavTMcGowan]

I just saw 1,2,4 and 5 this past week.  When I first heard about these films I really wanted to like it.  Anybody else have this problem?  You love film, and this is one of those only-a-real-film-as-art-kind-of-fan-would-like-this-film kind of films, so you really want to like it.  It almost ruins your chance of being objective about a film.  Well anyway, I went into this film determined to be objective, determined to be critical.  

All of them make excellent use of imagery and symbolism.  I read somewhere that Barney got into film just as a means to record his performance art.  The first two Cremaster films really reflect this (4 and 1, going chronologically here).  Which is probably why i wasn't terribly engaged by these two.  While the imagery is intellectually intriguiging, and visually very beautiful, the camera work was very, very basic.  By 5 and 2, however, Barney's camera became part of the art.  I was absolutely blown away by 2.  It was wonderful.  5 was also tremendous.  You can tell that Barney started to focus on not only how the content would effect the audience, but also how the film itself, shot to shot, not just action to action, would work.  

Unfortunately I didn't get to see 3 yet.  But if Barney's trend of improvement from the first film in The Cycle to the latest continues, well, I'm definitely looking forward to three hours of a film with little dialogue, no distinguishable story line, about testicles, that only a person who loves film would like.  Wow, that makes no sense.  

[bonanzataz]

On the gossip side: Didn't he and Bjork just have a baby recently?

well, if this dude's with bjork, i guess i gotta go see these films now.

[Ghostboy]

I finally saw Cremaster 3. It's quite impressive...although definitely not for the un-adventurous. Three hours of seemingly incomprehensible plot and no dialogue -- but the visuals are quite stunning, and once you get used to the flow of things, the story starts to emerge. Sort of. I know the budget of this was less than five million...every dollar is up there on screen. The Hi-Def photography is rich and textured...although it suffers from underlighting and shallow focus now and then (A problem when transferring HD to 35mm, and Barney has said the films are best when projected digitally). Those exteriors of the Chrysler building are just jaw-dropping. The opening sequence with the dead girl climbing from the dirt was very eerily beautiful (actually, that would describe the whole movie), and the scene in the dentist's chair...well, it makes you cringe in an entirely unexpected way. And the scene in the bar had a great sense of offbeat slapstick to it...sort of as if Jaccques Tati had played the bartended in The Shining.

The sound was interesting. Sometimes annoying, although very effectively so. It puts you on edge in all the right ways. The celtic music was a perfect touch, especially when the old man plays that elevator harp and begins to sing.

I need to touch up on my Freemason history.

[Traffican]

For all of you fans who had the pleasure of viewing the Cremaster Series it might've been a once in a lifetime opprotunity for you. From what I hear there are few prints of the movies out there and distribution is handled strictly by the Gugenhiem Museum. There will be DVD's released but the footage included is extremely abbreviated. If anyone saw the exhibit in New York and viewed Cremaster 3 they saw the 30 minute slice where Barney is climbing around the museum like a spider monkey---extremely cut from the 3 hour version that is being shown in limited theatrical release. I guess the limited number of prints are being sold for up to $500,000 by collectors/elitists---benefactors to the museum. Wide distribution means these prints lose value. So, like my dirty hippie friend told me before we went to see the series, "You better go now because chances are you'll never see this version again." He might be right...I hope not because this series would serve no good to anyone (except that top 10 percent) under lock and key. No box sets. Sorry.

[onoff]

I've only seen The cremaster 3 and from what i've seen so far, this episode was Empty and self-indulgent to the max.

& as the blues doc said;

conceptualism has killed that first frail blind stab of imagination from which all true creation springs; art is now about art, a stillborn conceptus.
The poet doesn't sing; he's been gagged and bound, paralyzed and drugged by a culture that has disconnected him from himself.
Shackled and in costume, he spends his time stricking poses before a mirror, hoping to find the right one, the one that might be him. This isn't even good cinema, visual fancy. It's stilted garbage,a waste of time.

ps: the cinematography was fantastic.

2/10

[Ghostboy]

I saw Cremaster 3 again yesterday, and then followed it with 1 and 2. 3 was even better the second time; the details really started to emerge, and everything made sense (plus, I went with a friend who is steeped in Masonic lore and he was able to explain almost everything that seemed inexplicable). 1 was far more obvious in its symbolism, and rather cute and amusing. But 2 was just amazing -- I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It's more accessible than 3 only than it is shorter; the story is obscure and hidden behind layers of symbolism, and yet it all makes such perfect sense at a visceral level. The cinematography and sound design is stunning (and  it even has a few lines of dialogue, which almost feel out of place). I can't say I like this more than 3, but I would highly reccomend watching the two back to back if you have the chance.

I'll be seeing 4 and 5 next week. And it's true that there's no foreseeable DVD release in the future; on August 27th, 'The Order' sequence from the third film will be released, but beyond that we'll just have to make do with the massive coffee table book. It's a damn shame....I hate to think I'll never get to see these movies again.

[jokerspath]

Christ, this thing just played out in Boston and I wasn't aware what it is.  I gotta read up on this shit more...

Sucks they'll never be on DVD...

aw

[cowboykurtis]

palm pictures is releasing it on dvd -- booya

[Ghostboy]

I was looking around Palm Pictures site last night, and it does say that the Cremaster Cycle will be coming to DVD, but they don't have any details on it. Then I went to Amazon, and the only thing they have listed is The Order. I really hope they all get released eventually, but I'm kinda guessing they won't be. Especially after reading http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_030515barney.html">this interview with Barney, in which he laments the availability of art and imagery.

[joshua james clarke]

it's truly amazing and we're very fortunate that palm pictures is releasing both DVD and VHS formats of the entire cycle. before palm pictures licensed cremaster, cremaster.net was selling VHS copies for upwards of $500. heh.

also, much respect to barney for casting AGNOSTIC FRONT AND MURPHY'S LAW in cremaster 3. i was shocked and surprised. definitely didn't expect that.

[Sal]

September 16th is when they're out on DVD.

I got my tics to see the films here in CO a couple days ago, so I'm really thrilled.  Glad they're whoring 'em around the states.

[Ghostboy]

Your assertations give me hope....where did you find that release date, Sal? I haven't been able to find any info on anything other than The Order.