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Kenneth Anger - Magier des Untergrundfilms 1970
Amazing that this doc crew was on-hand for the filming of Lucifer Rising, illuminating so much of Anger’s methodology - particularly just how scrappy and nearly single-handed these productions were. Really makes the imagery therein all the more impressive.
I wish the doc had chosen to subtitle Anger’s interview portions, rather than have the narrator dub over the translations. That’s really the only gripe I have with this, otherwise this is a must for fans of KA. Would love to see this restored at some point.
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Fear of Fear 1975
MoMA, 35mm
Saw this a long time ago and found it a little too mean-spirited, even by RWF’s standards. Glad I revisited though, as those feelings weren’t as resonant this time around. Margit Carstensen’s Margot has a bit more of a defiant posture than I remembered, though still trapped between playing the role of an efficacious spouse and maintaining her agency.
Has anyone donned a pair of gloriously bulbous 70’s headphones so gracefully?
Anecdotally, in terms of scale, it’s often…
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Chinese Roulette 1976
Film Forum, 35mm
Been putting this one off for a long time - one of the three or four RWF films I haven't seen.
A bit of a minor piece, but still plenty of twisted fun to be had here, watching a crippled child torture the parents that wish her dead.
Wish more had been made of the dueling feminine energies of Anna Karina and Margit Carstensen, but sadly that dynamic never amounts to much. In fact, Karina doesn't really… -
Man's Castle 1933
A tender and deceptively simple slice of depression-era life and love in New York city. Tracy’s hustling lunk-with-a-heart-of-gold paints a complicated love interest - his disposition teeters between hot-headed, impulsive oaf and wholly dedicated, passionate lover…it’s a great dualism, but much of his misogyny (and Loretta Young’s submissiveness) won’t play too well for contemporary audiences. But that’s what’s rich about this character - he’s not exactly a great person, but he’s ultimately sympathetic.
Would like to see a better-preserved version…
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Io Island 1977
Film at Lincoln Center, DCP
Not quite the enigmatic fever-dream that you'll find in some of Ki-young's other 70's work like PROMISE OF THE FLESH or THE INSECT WOMAN, but pretty damn close. A time-shifting, psychosexual rural folk horror that features necrophilic insemination. WTF else do you want?