Cremaster Cycle - Anyone seen it?

i'm so excited

seeing 3 first but i dont think it matters too much really.

And yeah, they really are so hermetic as to make conversation virtually impossible.

both sequences give you something different, but it makes the most sense when you try to consider each film as belonging to both orders at the same time. if possible i would try to watch them in the order they were made - but this isnt so wise since 4 and 1 are pretty dull and may put you off the later three.

in any case i think its really important to consider both 5 and 3 as different kinds of conclusions.

How I tried to explain them to the 'film' community at work (95%+ multiplex people):

The Cremaster Cycle

Wrt, Dir and starring: Matthew Barney

What happens?: OK, these are not normal films. They're not even close to normal films. When the Guardian reviewed them, Jeffrey Jones referred to them as "the first great fusion of art and cinema since 'Un Chien Andalou' " and it's easy to see where he's coming from. Think of them as a bit like Godfrey Reggio's 'Quatsi' trilogy, but without the Glass score and with more sustained imagery.

EH?: Exactly. No overarching plot. No acting to speak of. Just beautiful imagery. There are certainly themes - entrapment and digging to save yourself, control, decay - and Barney insist the main thrust is sexual differentiation (in that we start as the same gender and become different before we are born) which increases from films 1-5. There's also large elements of both male and female genitalia... I'm viewing them as they were made chronologically, though there is no specific order to see them in.

Are they any good though?:

Cremaster 4 (12a) 42 mins

There are two main visual threads in this one. Firstly, two motorbike teams (one yellow, one blue) race in opposite directions round the Isle Of Man. At one point the yellow team crash, but recover, and the riders are troubled by testes which escape from the lower pockets of their leathers - in the case of the yellow team in exodus to the upper pockets, and in the case of the blue team across the fairing to the passenger - but eventually reach their goal (a red sheep). Secondly, Barney's character discovers growths on his head then has tap plates attached to his shoes by faeries. Compelled to tap-dance, he is beset by the faeries who put giant pearls in his pockets, and continues to tap until he wears through the marble floor of the pier and plunges to the waters below. Weighed down by the pearls he is unable to surface and digs through to a narrow subterranean cave - this becomes a tunnel network which he follows despite it becoming increasingly torturous and, on occasion, filled with vaseline.

At times this film seems contrived, and the stop-motion effects used in the tunnelling sequences in particular are sometimes less than stellar, but Barney has a knack for picking exactly the right shot. The underwater sequences are superb, and the tunnel sequences are genuinely disturbing - even for those who aren't claustrophobic.

Cremaster 1 (PG) 40 mins

On a blue American football pitch, a Busby Berkeley routine is conducted. It's watched by two identical GoodYear blimps, which have in their cabins four air hostesses (of sorts). In the centre of each cabin is a table covered in grapes (one red, one green) and a sculpture in set vaseline of a foetal gonad structure. On a platform under the table is a woman (the same under each, and the same woman that appears in the BB routine twice later - once suspended by two mini-blimps and once on some kind of carnival float) who, by contorting themselves are able to find a hole into the table above through which they can pull grapes. These grapes are somehow transferred from the hand, through a horn on the sole of one shoe, to the floor, where they 'dance' in a manner mirroring the BB routine. At one point the women rotate the fat sculpture through 180 degrees.

I could have watched this film all night. The BB routine is a great homage, and the way the transition between football pitch and blimp cabin is handled gives the feeling of 'model within model', of getting decreasingly small. Far more focussed than 4, and no worse for it.

Cremaster 5 (12a) 54 mins

The Queen Of Chains (Ursula Andress) and her attendants mime to opera, backed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra while The Diva (Barney) climbs a flower arch framing the stage, while wearing a Swiss Guard uniform modelled in pink plastic. In flashback, we see a relationship between the Queen and The Magician (Barney again) which ends up with him drowned, shackled with one of the wax/vaseline models, this one clearly gender delineated. In a middle sequence, The Giant (Barney once more) is emasculated by doves instructed in a liaison between the Queen and the Sea Faeries.

As you might guess, this one is probably the most straightforward of the films. Intermezzo excepted, the films plays very much like a promotional video for an opera in some invented half-language, albeit and exceptionally beautifully shot one. I certainly enjoyed this one the least, although it's still bloody good.

Cremaster 2 (18) 79 mins

Blimey, a conventional one! (Obviously, this can only apply to people who consider Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman and David Lynch to be conventional film-makers. :-) It's even got sort of a plot!

A couple visit some kind of third party, who places their hands on a rail through a hole in the table, then smears beeswax on her thigh. A couple with bee-related genitals have sex. Dave Lombardo drums for a bit, and provides the foundation to a cracking piece of music using bee hums as the orchestration. Gary Gilmore (Barney) parks his car outside a gas station, where it merges with another car via some kind of canvas tunnel - while it is being refuelled Gilmore switches between the two cars and makes a model of some kind of reproductive network out of bits of trim and vaseline, which he finds behind the sun shield. Eventually, he goes inside and shoots the attendant in a glass walled bathroom opposite some GoodYear tyres (bearing the C1 logo). Some Canadian mounties stand on a cliff, near some marble (in a scene which, strangely, reminds me most of Ken Russell's 'Composer' films, specifically the Mahler one). Some US Mounted Police perform a dance on horseback, in an arena made on snow in the middle of a frozen lake. Some cowboys catch a steer on the same lake, and lead it to another arena, where Gary Gilmore rides it to submission in lieu of his execution. Harry Houdini (played by no less than Norman Mailer) escapes from a wax entrapment, and is lambasted by an unknown woman (later confirmed to be the third party from the opening sequences) for not wishing to escape from the drones. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform, in model form. A couple dance the foxtrot (I think) around a silver mosaic saddle.

This is by far the best of the four I've seen so far, although 5 & 2 not being the same sort of film as 4 & 1 does help that distinction, I guess. Too much goes on to pick out too many highlights, but the nature shots (making it the closest aligned to the 'Quatsi' trilogy, as I point out above) are quite breathtaking, as are all the sequences on the ice.

Cremaster 3 (15) 189 mins

Now this one definitely has a plot.

A prologue where the builder of The Giant's Causeway is shown to be the maker of the wedges used in C4 and the balls from C2, and is sought out by a possibly cannibalistic giant. A decaying corpse rises from the grave and collapses, and is taken to the lobby of the Chrysler building where she is put in a 1930s Chrysler Imperial New Yorker with an eagle. The Apprentice (Barney) closes the fuel caps of five 1969 Chrysler Crown Imperials with cement, then walks through the lobby to the lift shaft, where he prises open the door and climbs inside. He gets on top of the lift, opens the hatch, and painstakingly fills it with cement. The 1969 Chryslers destroy the 30s one by crashing repeatedly into it. The Apprentice climbs to the top of the lift shaft, where he finds the Cloud Club, and is met by the maitre'd. Wires are connected to the lift cabling and attached to a sculpture to form a harp, and The Apprentice enters the bar; the bar has connecting rooms which host the Freemasons who are judging him and a woman who makes shapes from potato using cutters attached to her shoes, before wedging them under one side of the bar (and raising it). The maitre'd sings Irish ballads, accompanied by the 'made' harp and tuned wind from the lift shaft. The Apprentice is poured a drink. An alternate reality is shown where we are at a gig race at the Saratoga racetrack run with decaying horses - the version of The Apprentice here has his teeth broken against a bar. When we return to the bar we now see the 'real' Apprentice has his teeth broken. Intermission.

The Freemasons escort The Apprentice to a dentist's surgery where he is place in the chair and has a plastic shield molded to his face. A receptionist takes what remains of the destroyed 30s Chrysler to The Architect - apparently The First Mason, Hiram Abiff. The Architect takes this piece of car to the surgery and places it in the mouth of The Apprentice, which cause him to pass part of his intestine, and from it the teeth he swallowed when they were broken. In time, these transform to a solid bar and The Apprentice sees a large apron his skin has grown. The Architect makes two pillars, as Hiram Abiff did in the Temple Of Solomon, and climbs them to the roof-space of the Chrysler Building, where he is the centre-piece in a Maypole. The Apprentice climbs to the roofspace.

The Order is a semi-self-contained piece within C3. A transformed Apprentice (wearing a pink kilt and busby, and with a rag stuffed in his now-deformed mouth) ascends and descends the interior of the Guggenheim Museum avoiding the obstacles on each level - 5 Vegas-style showgirls, a Jewish chorus line, a battle of the bands between Agnostic Front and Murphy's Law, a transforming cheetah woman (played by the the superb Aimee Mullins), a sculpture which requires assembling and finally Richard Serra (who plays The Architect, but here cast as himself) who is creating a vaseline stream around the interior of the gallery space.

The scene then jump-cuts as The Apprentice and The Transformed Apprentice kill The Architect and the cheetah-woman (respectively) with masonic 'tools' (the test piece, the square, compasses). Once this has taken place, The Apprentice dies as the central spire of the Chrysler Building falls and crushes his head.

In an epilogue, the causeway builder pretends to be a baby to avoid the giant, fooling him into eating the vaseline creations and chasing him from the house. He then throws a stone at him, which forms the Isle of Man (as in the legend).

Choosing between 3 and 2 for which film I like the most is very difficult. I think, on balance, the humour in 3 (the Causeway scene's are slightly played for laughs, but the barman is pure Keaton slapstick, and the Freemasons are very reminiscent of the Three Stooges) slightly undermines it's case, as I don't think they need to be funny to be good. When this is on the mark, however, it's by far the best of the bunch. The racetrack scenes in particular are absolutely stunning. Also, although I'm not usually one to point out such things, the quality of the CGI here makes films like 'Lord Of The Rings' and 'The Matrix' look like 'Roobarb And Custard'.

Overall, then?:

It's hard to disagree with the critics. The most successful hybrid of High Art and film since 'Un Chien Andalou' certainly, but more crucially one which manages to retain the notion of what makes films valid as a medium at the same time. If nothing else, Barney is possibly the greatest Performance Artist of his generation. These films are enjoyable on so many levels it's difficult to know where to start analysing them - so perhaps it's better for me not to do so and allow you to make you mind up yourself. Although these would never make any 'Top 10' type lists of mine, or I suspect anybodys, as a single-minded artistic vision these are pretty close to being unsurpassed.

More detail (particularly on what some parts of the film represent, and Barney's overarching intentions), should you want it, from the following official sources:

http://www.cremaster.net
http://www.guggenheim.org/barney/
http://www.palmpictures.com/videos/thecremastercycle.html

Feel free to hack me to shreds.

I watched them in 4,1,5,2,3 order and am glad I did. There is a huge climb in production values when viewed chronologically and I imagine I'd have been put off going from 3 to 4. Someone in the audience suggested that Barney's recommended order mirrors his journey from growing up in Boise to New York to wherever, but who knows really.

One thing that really stuck with me that I hadn't heard before was that these movies are part of a mixed media installation. Barney is a sculptor and the movies were always intended as a vehicle to give his sculptures context. But it seems the movies became so sophisticated as they progressed that they became their own beast, and completely stand on their own. I don't know if my brain couldn't process anymore symbols for the day or what, but by the time I was watching 2 and 3 I couldn't find much of blatant gonad symbolism in the early pictures.

I'm still digesting it all obviously. Was there any masonic symbolism present in any of the movies besides 3? Obviously 5 movies in the cycle, but I'm wondering if the masonic elements were in the whole cycle, or if it might have been an afterthought in 3.

seeing 3 tonight and 4 and 5 on thursday; i'm fuckin psyched

Have you seen them before?

nope

(I am a huge fucking fan, so don't be skeered, not going to try and talk you out of it or anything) xpost

hahahahah i've been wanting to see them since i first learned about them years ago; i'm p. much taking it as a given that i'm going to like them.

Stoked for u dude, fucking amazing stuff.

yeah only disappointment is not being able to get in 1 and 2 in (they're only here for a week)

altered zones

aw - 2 is my favorite, but i haven't seen 5. 3 is really good in parts, but i felt like it was overly long (all the others are under an hour).

You're all set for one of the great film experiences of our time - expect to have your head well and truly fucked with! It's a trip - enjoy the ride, and don't work too hard on making sense of anything. Leave that for later.

There's a significant chance you're going to spend a lot of time tracking down screenings of 1 and 2, and an only slightly less significant one you're going to be really angry with us for all for not talking you out of it.

sucks I'm gonna miss the boston run. when they were screening the first time around there was a DVD boxset planned for release, so I blew em off. erp.

Playdates 2010

SIFF Cinema Seattle WA 4/9 – 4/15
IFC Center New York NY 5/19 – 6/3
Landmark’s Nuart Theatre Los Angeles CA 6/11 ­ 6/17
Landmark’s Kendall Square Theatre Boston MA 6/25 ­ 7/1
Landmark's Dobie Theatre Austin TX 7/9 - 7/15
Landmark Theaters Denver CO 8/6 – 8/12
Oklahoma Museum of Art Oklahoma City OK 8/26 – 8/29
Music Box Theatre Chicago IL 9/3 -9/9
Cinema 21 Portland OR 9/24 – 9/30
Cleveland Cinematheque Cleveland OH 9/30 – 10/3
Landmark E Street Washington DC 10/8 – 10/14
Museum of Fine Arts Houston TX 11/5 – 11/7
Three Rivers Film Fest Pittsburgh PA 11/6 – 11/20
Landmark Midtown Art Atlanta GA Fall

maybe pvd will pull it together and book these, the rental rates are really reasonable

interesting that it's skipping Minneapolis and San Francisco - wondering if that's because of the SF MoMA/Walker deal.

I respect Barney for holding out against a full DVD release - the cinema experience, and being forced to seek that out, adds a lot.

Still really want the Cremaster 5 soundtrack, though.

I respect barney for forcing everyone to download pixelated avi's from torrent sites

Hey, it's not like he's putting a gun to your head

yeah, but he's pretty heavily influenced by Chris Burden

OK, maybe he is holding a gun to your head (BEHIND YOU!), but that gun has been fashioned out of the thighbone of a yak by traditional craftsmen.

so #3 was :D

i mean, i could probably never completely formulate my thoughts about this (it's basically all i've been thinking about today) but there are two things i really admire about it:

1) the fact that it was executed, period. in terms of executing a film production (and a particularly difficult one), it's just an extremely impressive job by mb and his collaborators.

2) i love how he seems to view common places, object, materials, as completely configurable to suit the environment he's creating. like in a sense there's a lot of "weird" juxtaposition and out-of-place imagery in the film but he sort of just takes it and owns it and makes it feel incredibly natural and real.

i don't really know what to say--"magic" isn't my favorite word by far, but no doubt just getting up and driving to work and going to the gym i have viewed the world a little bit differently today.

just watched 1, have 2 queued up next. (i know there's no set order, and that they were released in a different order, etc, but whatever, i'm going 1 through 5)

why has it taken me so long to get to these? 1 was amazing.

gdamn it was almost two years ago when these came to town?

i would love to see them on the big screen. i'm just downloading them. :(

kinda wish Matthew Barney and Nic Cage would collaborate

I saw them all on the big screen when the walker did a five day run and it was full on O_O

Also IMO 1 is great but it is prob the least amazing of the 5! So I am excited 4 u man!

yeah zs please post once you see 3.

oh, i doubt i'll have anything interesting to say about any of them! i'm awful at describing the things that i really like, whether that's music or a cliffside or repetition. i'm always so jealous of people that can articulately describe what they feel about art, but i'm happy that if nothing else, i can be impacted by this stuff viscerally, even if i can't explain why

i've also heard that 1 is not so great compared to the other 4, so i'm pumped!

just out of curiosity, when they show these at a film festival, what order do they screen them?

Numerically, not chronologically.

just watched 2. and can i just say how perfectly structured the opening and closing shots are, of the mirrored horn-like shape. at the beginning it foreshadows the bullriding sequence, at the end it suggests symmetry and sex. the entire sinclair gas station scene was amazing.

also, i for one was surprised by the double bass/bee duet interlude near the beginning.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Gray1143.png