Kenneth Anger. Volumes 1-3

Synopsis

Nine films on three videocassettes by the avant-garde film-maker Kenneth Anger. All have been digitally re-mastered and include the original music.
Volume 1 includes FIREWORKS (1947, 14 min): Anger’s first film made at the age of 17 over a weekend when his parents were away. Anger appears as a dreamer whose desires are ignited at night; PUCE MOMENT (1949, 6 min): Filmed in Hollywood, this is a fragment of the never-completed project ‘Puce Women’. It describes an afternoon in the life of a film star in 1920s’ Hollywood. A sly use of songs suggests a renunciation of drag-dressing and a climb out of the closet; INAUGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME (1954, 37 min): Anger himself appears in the film along with the writer AnaÔs Nin and Curtis Harrington. Derived from one of Aleister Crowley’s dramatic rituals where people in the cult assume the identity of a god or godess. The title of the film derives from the poem ‘Kublai Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, telling the story of the Mongol general who built a pleasure dome.
Volume 2 includes RABBIT’S MOON (1972, 16 min): originally made in 1950, but not released until 1972, then with a pop soundtrack. This version was replaced in 1979 by a 7-minute version with a different soundtrack; EAUX D’ARTIFICE (1953, 13 min): Filmed in Tivoli, Italy, and accompanied by the music of Vivaldi, Camilla Salvatore plays hide-and-seek in a baroque night-time labyrinth of staircases, fountains, gargoyles and balustrades. The camera zooms into and away from the mask-like faces, water spirits carved in stone, as the figure in 18th-century costume scurries through the maze; SCORPIO RISING (1963, 29 min): a film that influenced filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and David Lynch. Anger described the film as a ‘high view of the myth of the American motorcyclist’.
Volume 3 includes KUSTOM KAR KOMMANDOS (1965, 3 min): a dream-life probe into the psyche of the American teenager for whom the hot-rod or customised car provides a means of wish fulfilment; INVOCATION OF MY DEMON BROTHER (1969, 11 min): a reworking of footage originally shot in 1966 for LUCIFER RISING, a homage to Aleister Crowley. A visual montage accompanied by music provided by Mick Jagger on Moog synthesiser; LUCIFER RISING (1980, 28 min): inspired by Crowley’s ‘Hymn to Lucifer’, it is a film in which Anger ‘captures’ angels and the marvels of the natural world. Anger himself appears with Marianne Faithful, Donald Cammell and occultist Sir Francis Rose.

Series

History of the Avant-Garde, A: Series

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Video; 3 videocassettes. VHS. col. 58, 58, 42 min.

Year of production

1980

Availability

Sale; 2000 sale: £15.99 (inclusive) each

Subjects

Media studies

Keywords

experimental film & video; short films

Credits

Director

Kenneth Anger

Distributor

Name

BFI Video

Email

video.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7957 8957

Fax

020 7957 8968

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

 

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