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Cremaster 2

Play trailer Cremaster 2 1999 1h 19m Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
This experimental film alternates between symbolic depictions of events from the life of notorious Mormon murderer Gary Gilmore and sustained shots of barren landscapes and beehives. Career criminal Gilmore (Matthew Barney) murders two men and, after being apprehended, demands to be put to death by firing squad. The execution absolves Gilmore of his sins, and he enters a hive-like heaven, where he begins a search for the elusive Harry Houdini (Norman Mailer), who may be his grandfather.

Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly 06/04/2003
A-
Darkly powerful. Go to Full Review Ted Shen Chicago Reader 04/12/2003
A tantalizing melange of dreamlike riffs on the desolation of the American west, the empty poses of male ritual, and the blood lust of macho fetishism. Go to Full Review Stephen Holden New York Times 04/12/2003
4/5
It is Gilmore's story and his family history, evoked symbolically, that give Cremaster 2 a solidity and emotional depth that are missing in the earlier, more playful installments. Go to Full Review David N. Butterworth La Movie Boeuf 04/30/2020
3/4
The only film in recent memory in which serial killer Gary Gilmore attempts to conjoin two Ford Mustangs with petroleum jelly. Go to Full Review Ian Buckwalter DCist 10/11/2010
8.1/10
The most cohesive narrative in any of these films, following murderer Gary Gilmore (played by Barney) on his crime spree, conviction, & striking execution, juxtaposed with a Harry Houdini (played by Norman Mailer) subplot. Go to Full Review Nick Davis Nick's Flick Picks 05/19/2010
A
Barney's outlandish mise-en-scène, forever emphasizing the organic, the amorphous, the massive, the adhesive, and the fluorescent in quite literal ways, also retains those very qualities in my memory. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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03/30/2016 One of the best experimental films I've seen. Truly phenomenal See more 03/19/2012 While no less weird than any of the other Cremaster films, the second instalment does seem to have more of a storyline that is maybe slightly easier to follow. A murderer goes off in search of Harry Houdini in the afterlife (which appears to be made of golden honeycomb!), who he thinks had a love affair with his grandmother. Well, I did say 'slightly' easier to follow... See more 12/09/2011 Do you consider David Lynch to be terribly pedestrian and excessively beholden to the linear narrative? This could be right up your alley. See more 02/19/2011 Boring, artsy-esque clap-trap overwrought symbolism and commentary that takes itself too seriously and takes far too much time. Its' symbolism is mildly grotesque and certainly compelling, but the slow tempo was excruciating. As in the first Cremaster, much of the intended meaning was probably unclear or ambiguous. Again, this would be a compliment if it seemed possible to interpret it. Instead, it merely felt like an exercise in self-stimulation. See more 05/11/2010 a spectral delight and a film so bizarre its mesmerizing. lush with long aerial shots of unrecognizable landscapes, this film sinks into you musically and visually. See more 09/03/2009 hm. I didn't care for it as much as the first one. See more Read all reviews
Cremaster 2

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Matthew Barney

Director

Norman Mailer

Harry Houdini

Matthew Barney

Gary Gilmore

Anonymous

Baby Fay La Foe

Lauren Pine

Bessie Gilmore

Scot Ewalt

Frank Gilmore

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Cremaster 2

Cremaster 2 (1999) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis This experimental film alternates between symbolic depictions of events from the life of notorious Mormon murderer Gary Gilmore and sustained shots of barren landscapes and beehives. Career criminal Gilmore (Matthew Barney) murders two men and, after being apprehended, demands to be put to death by firing squad. The execution absolves Gilmore of his sins, and he enters a hive-like heaven, where he begins a search for the elusive Harry Houdini (Norman Mailer), who may be his grandfather.
Director
Matthew Barney
Producer
Matthew Barney, Barbara Gladstone
Distributor
Palm Pictures
Production Co
Glacier Field LLC
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 13, 1999, Original
Runtime
1h 19m