DVD
Masterworks of American avant-garde experimental film, 1920-1970
Edition
Deluxe DVD edition.
Publication Information
[Los Angeles, CA] : Flicker Alley, [2015]
Physical Description
2 videodiscs (418 minutes) : sound or silent, black & white or color ; 4 3/4 in.
Audience
Not rated.
Summary
"Flicker Alley and the Blackhawk Films Collection, in collaboration with Filmmakers Showcase, are proud to present Masterworks of American Avant-garde Experimental Film 1920-1970. This breathtaking collection includes 37 films, restored to pristine high-definition, by some of the foremost experimental filmmakers of the 20th century (Fernand Léger, Mary Ellen Bute, Oskar Fischinger, Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger, Jonas Mekas, and many more). Commencing in 1920 with Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand's creative collaboration on Manhatta, successive generations of experimental filmmakers and artists have worked in collaboration or alone to create a cinema capable of expressing dynamic unspoken concepts in totally abstract visual terms. To watch these films is to see the world anew through cinematic interventions: fast cutting, expressive camerawork, abstract animation, surrealistic collage, distorted and superimposed imagery, and many more extraordinary techniques. Essentially the filmmakers ask us to open our eyes and see, to permit the reception of pure sensations uninhibited by any complex web of predetermined associations dominant in mainstream Hollywood cinema. Collected from archives around the world and beautifully restored in high definition, the majority of the vintage silent films in Masterworks of American Avant-garde Experimental Film 1920-1970 feature new musical scores from innovative composers such as Donald Sosin, George Antheil, Eric Beheim, Rodney Sauer, Gustavo Matamoros, Henry Wolfe and Phil Carluzzo."--Publisher's website.
Notes
"The majority of silent films in this collection feature new musical scores"--Container.
Films originally produced 1920-1970.
Bonus features: 2K restoration of Manhatta (1920-21, dir. Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand) with 2008 Slovak Sinfonietta orchestral score by Donald Sosin and 2013 music score by Henry Wolfe and Phil Carluzzo ; 2K restoration of Ballet Mechanique (1924, dir. Fernand Leger, Dudley Murphy) with additional footage and George Antheil's 1925 percussive score for 16 player pianos and mechanical noises ; previously unavailable, unique versions of Meshes of the afternoon (1943, dir. Maya Deren, Alexandr Hackenschmied), In the street (1948, 1952, dir. Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, James Agee), N.Y., N.Y. (1958, dir. Francis Thompson), Castro Street (1966, dir. Bruce Baillie), and Film that rises to the surface of clarified butter (1968, dir. Owen Land formerly George Landow) ; Sappho and Jerry, parts 1-3 (1977-78, dir. Bruce Posner) ; Seasons-- (2002, dir. Phil Solomon, Stan Brakhage) ; Ch'an (1983, dir. Francis Lee) with music by Christopher Atwood.
Contents
- Manhatta / Ballet Mechanique / Anémic cinéma / Life and death of 9413 : a Holywood extra / Skyscraper symphony / Mechanical principles / Tango in D / Bronx morning / Lot in Sodom / Poem 8 / Optical poem / Hungarian rhapsody, no. 2 / Thimble theater / Tarantella / Pursuit of happiness / 1941 / Meshes of the Afternoon / Meditation on violence / In the street
- Four in the afternoon / Abstronic / Eaux d'artifice / Four seasons / Bells of Atlantis / House of incest Evolution / Gyromorphosis / Django / Hurry, Hurry! / N.Y., N.Y. / 9 variations on a dance theme / Castro Street (the coming of consciousness) / Film that rises to the surface of clarified butter / Excerpt from Walden: diaries, notes and sketches / Our lady of the sphere / Love it-Leave it / DL2 (disintegration line #2) / Transport / Sappho and Jerry. Parts 1-3 / Ch'an / Seasons-- / Manhatta