Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
Nearly all of Brakhage's films convey an astonishing blend of abstraction and representation, a hypnotic flow of pure cinema, an orgasmic discovery of the possibilities of the camera and editing technique, a hungry sensuality. [Blu-ray]
Rated: 4/4
May 30, 2010
Full Review
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
I think these Brakhage films are necessary for those who take their cinema seriously.
Rated: A
May 28, 2006
Full Review
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Rated: 4/5
Aug 8, 2005
Full Review
Jake Euker
PopMatters
Brakhage was a dyed-in-the-wool advocate of the use of film for other than narrative purposes, and the body of work he left behind is the real thing: true-blue experiment.
Rated: 4.5/5
Feb 11, 2004
Full Review
Scott Weinberg
Apollo Guide
This anthology, much like an exhibit of confident and periodically shocking artworks, will speak volumes to viewers.
Rated: 80/100
Oct 29, 2003
Full Review
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
'Filmmaker' is a misrepresentative title, here, as Brakhage only marginally honors the gamut of filmmaking.
Jun 26, 2003
Full Review
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Audience Member
A must have/see. This is amazing.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"Desistfilm" is an archaic short that reminds me of Anger's "Fireworks". "Wedlock House: An Intercourse" does great things with monochromatic lighting. "Dog Star Man" is visually arresting, but silent and often tedious. "The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes" is a half hour of autopsies. It's graphic, gruesome and hard to watch. The second volumes most memorable piece is "Window Water Baby Moving" which depicts the grotesquery of birth . Brakhage's signature barrage of abstract paintings is epitomized in "Love Song", a fitting end to the 26 item collection. It's far more educational and inspirational than entertaining. Brakhage is more visual artist than director.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
whew. this was extremely challenging. and beautiful. and grotesque. the complete silence you're in for much of these 2.5 hours or so is totally unnerving. for the uninitiated (as i was until now) the "brakhage on brakhage" interviews should probably watched FIRST rather than last. it gives some language to what often feels like some seriously alien shit. i might actually buy this.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
To review each of the twenty-six films presented in this set would have been a bit tedious, so I decided to just write one review for the whole set. Stan Brakhage was the ultimate in experimental filmmaking. Many of his works consists of images scratched or painted directly onto film by hand. Most of them are completely without audio. Some are pretty graphic and unsettling. Some of the highlights include:
DOG STAR MAN - over an hour long and more than just a psychedelic head trip
THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES - a half-hour of footage from actual human autopsies
WINDOW WATER BABY MOVING - 12 minutes of acutal childbirth in explicit detail
MOTHLIGHT - 3 minutes of various items found in nature adhered to a strip of perforated tape
EYE MYTH - 9 seconds of brilliance
THE STARS ARE BEAUTIFUL - 18 minutes of stellar images linked with audio of various myths about space, intercut with images of his wife and children clipping a chicken's wings
KINDERING - an unsettling three minutes of children at play
THE DANTE QUARTET - visions of Hell
RAGE NET - 52 seconds
UNTITLED (FOR MARILYN) - 11 minutes, and possibly my favorite
BLACK ICE - 2 minutes which seem to come out of the screen
COMMINGLED CONTAINERS - 3 minutes of artistic water
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
Full Review
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