Search - Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema 1928-1954 on DVD

A cocktail of masterpieces and kitsch

Thorkell Agust Ottarsson | Norway | 08/22/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The First Avant Garde collection from Kino International is my all time favorite film collection. I was therefore quite exited when I learned that Kino was issuing another one. The following review is my humble opinion of this collection.

I have to admit that Avant Garde 2 is far from as good as the first one. The transfer is better (almost perfect) and the sound/music is really good, but many of the films are just kitsch. Some of the films are interesting while few of them are really good.

Almost all of the films are from USA which may explain the weakness of this collection (Avant Garde came late to maturity in America). Coriously the most famous American Avant Garde film is missing from this collection, Namely "Meshes of the Afternoon" by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. It does how ever have four early films by Brackage and two of them are really good ("Interim" and "Unglassed Windows Cast a Terrible Reflection"). The third good American film in this collection is the classic "The Fall of the House of Usher" by James Watson and Melville Webber (the transfer of the film is amazing).

There are three French films on the disk and all of them are excellent ("Pacific 231", "Arriere saison" and "Venom and Eternity"). Venom and Eternity is a classic Avant Garde masterpiece (presented in a longer version than previously seen in the USA; a 111 min. version). It has not lost any of its punches and is a must see for anyone interested in Avant Garde and the limits (and the nature) of the Film language.

To sum it up. There are 17 films in this collection, 6 of them are really good, about 4 are interesting, but the rest is kitsch (IMO).

And Finally, here is the list of the films:

DISC ONE

GEOGRAPHY OF THE BODY
US 1943 B&W 7 Min.
Willard Maas
THE MECHANICS OF LOVE
US 1955 B&W 5 Min.
Willard Maas and Ben Moore
VISUAL VARIATIONS ON NOGUCHI
US 1945 B&W 4 Min.
Marie Menken
THE POTTED PSALM
US 1946 B&W 18 Min.
Sidney Peterson & James Broughton
THE CAGE
US 1947 B&W 28 Min.
Sidney Peterson
HOUSE OF CARDS
US 1947 B&W 16 Min.
Joseph Vogel
CHRISTMAS, U.S.A.
US 1949 B&W 13 Min.
Gregory J. Markopoulos
ADVENTURES OF JIMMY
US 1950 B&W 10 Min.
James Broughton
INTERIM
US 1952 B&W 24 Min.
Stan Brakhage
UNGLASSED WINDOWS CAST A TERRIBLE REFLECTION
US 1953 B&W 29 Min.
Stan Brakhage
THE WAY TO SHADOW GARDEN
US 1954 B&W 11 Min.
Stan Brakhage
THE EXTRAORDINARY CHILD
US 1954 B&W 13 Min.
Stan Brakhage

DISC TWO

REBUS-FILM NO. 1
US 1928 B&W 15 Min.
Paul Leni
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
US 1928 B&W 12 Min.
James Watson & Melville Webber
PACIFIC 231
France 1949 B&W 10 Min.
Jean Mitry
ARRIÈRE SAISON
France 1950 B&W 15 Min.
Dimitri Kirsanoff
TRAITÉ DE BAVE ET D'ÈTERNITÉ
(Venom and Eternity) France 1951 B&W 111 Min.
Jean Isidore Isou"