Films of Kenneth Anger: Vol 1 (NR, 1947)
Netflix Synopsis: Short works from the first half of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger’s career make up this remarkable collection. An influence on everyone from Andy Warhol to Martin Scorsese, Anger blends striking imagery and universal symbols to create innovative experimental pieces. Included are “Fireworks” (1947), “Puce Moment” (1949), the 16-minute version of “Rabbit’s Moon” (1950), “Eaux d’Artifice” (1953) and “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome” (1954).
Review: Are you ready for some good art films? Did you like Un Chien
Andalou? How about Maya Deren’s Meshes of an Afternoon? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it would be a great idea to put Kenneth Anger, Volume One on the top of your Netflix queue. This collection of 5 short films recently released on DVD for the first time, beautifully remastered, is must for connoisseurs of art films. Nobody can make an odd short like Kenneth Anger. Maybe a little background on Anger first. He was a child actor in the golden era of films. He later became an auteur of sorts seeking inspiration from silent films, Alistair Crowley, and Satan himself. He wrote two delightfully trashy tabloidesque books (Hollywood Babylon I and (surprise) Hollywood Babylon II, is it rumored III will be out after he finishes the chapter on Scientology). Of course some of these short films are more entertaining and fascinating than others, but
the whole collection is worth checking out. Here is a break down of
the five.
Fireworks: Made at the age of 17 over a weekend, Anger films himself (playing the protagonist) assaulted by a group of burly sailors. The short has a dream quality (supposedly inspired by one of Anger’s dreams). He uses a lot of surrealist imagery, most of it concerning violence, none of which I will divulge here (it is not overly graphic, just want to avoid spoilers). Though this is not Anger’s first film, it is his first to be widely released. It may be the best of the five although it would have a tough fight against Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.
Puce Moment: This is a five-minute short, part of an unfinished film that Anger planned on doing, revolving around the color puce. The film has no dialogue (actually none of the films in the collection do), and it is about a woman picking out a puce colored dress and getting ready to go out in the afternoon. Later in the seventies Anger added a great rock and roll soundtrack, by a man named Jonathan Halper (I cannot find any information on Halper).
Rabbits Moon: A movie shot on a soundstage and then completely tinted blue, is about a Clown looking for love (maybe?), it also involves two other clowns (one male and one female), two child clowns, the moon, a rabbit, and a magik lantern show (the precursor to the modern day film). What makes this film even odder is its fifties doo-wop soundtrack.
Eaux d’artifice: Is visually stunning shots of a woman in masquerade dress, walking in a garden. The most intriguing shots in this short are of the flowing jets of water spewing from fountains. The film is tinted blue with some green coloring added in.
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome: Is the longest film in the set, running an entire 38 minutes. Once again the film has to be seen, as a description does not do it justice. The short has vivid colors, elaborate costumes, wonderfully painted grimacing faces, and many signs of Anger’s fascination with mysticism.
Check out Anger Volume One
5 out of 5 Stars
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