From: Marilyn Brakhage (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Apr 01 2009 - 00:31:19 PDT
You're welcome. Thanks for the story. . . . It will be interesting to
see what sort of responses 23rd Psalm Branch elicits now. (Sadly, it
never stops being timely.)
Marilyn
On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at 10:57 PM, Ted Sonnenschein wrote:
> I actually dragged a bunch of my old high school friends to the
> Whitney to see 23rd Psalm Branch when I was about 19 or 20. I went up
> real close and center. There was almost nobody there and soon most of
> my friends trickled out. I think because we could get in free, so many
> came with me and for a while we were a chunk of space. It sort of
> scarred my reputation after that as no one wanted me to suggest which
> film to see anymore. I still wonder what I said to get so many to go
> there in the first place. Anyway, when it ended, no one was around me
> up front. I thought they had all left but a few had stayed around.
> They just floated to the back as it was a little too intense up front.
> One friend had his headphones on. I think only one or two other people
> were in the theater. It is definitely no introductory film but having
> it on DVD and going through sections slowly will be fantastic. All
> those 8mm edits is just insane. Around that time, there was the
> bombing of Kuwait on the TV and it was just on and on and my Father
> and Brother were watching it and it just drove me nuts--totally
> understanding the role of the TV in the film and the pains one has to
> go through to watch the film.
>
> Anyway, this looks like a great selection. Thanks for sharing the
> titles with us.
>
> Ted
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 1:11 AM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
>
> Yes, 23rd Psalm Branch will be complete. And the Visions in
> Meditation Series will be complete. Other series are quite long, and
> if I had included another complete series, then too much would have
> been left out, as I was trying to provide a diverse selection from
> different periods and types of work. . . . I consulted with a number
> of people and went through many revisions before arriving at this
> list. These titles, and all the rest, are still available on film, so
> I hope people will continue to seek out more. The DVDs, of course,
> are not intended to replace the films! They are meant to introduce
> more people to Stan's work, and to provide a way for individuals so
> inclined to study some of them more closely.
>
> Marilyn
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at 11:27 AM, Jorge Amaro wrote:
>
> Dear Marilyn,
>
> That sounds fabulous! I'm just wondering if I may. Why did you decide
> not include full series? Like in the case of the Persian Series, will
> 23rd psalm branch be complete?
>
> Regards,
>
> J.
>
> 2009/3/31 Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed>:
>
> To answer the question from Marcos: The Criterion set will be DVDs,
> but as
> all transfers are in high definition they would be able to, and may
> consider
> re-releasing them in Bluray at a later date. For now, not sure of the
> initial release date yet. We're probably still some months away, but
> the
> titles will be: The Wonder Ring; The Dead; Two: Creeley/McClure; 23rd
> Psalm
> Branch; Scenes From Under Childhood (Part One); The Machine of Eden;
> Star
> Garden; Desert; The Process; Burial Path; The Domain of the Moment;
> Murder
> Psalm; Duplicity III; Arabic 12; Visions in Meditatiion 1-4;
> Unconscious
> London Strata; Boulder Blues and Pearls And; The Mammals of Victoria;
> From:
> First Hymn to the NIght - Novalis; I Take These Truths; The Cat of the
> Worm's Green Realm; Yggdrasill: Whose Roots Are Stars in the Human
> Mind;
> Ellipsis #5; Persians 1-3; Chinese Series.
>
> Marilyn Brakhage
> Victoria BC
>
> On Monday, March 30, 2009, at 10:35 PM, Ted Sonnenschein wrote:
>
> That's some good news. Any chance you can leak the titles to us?
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 5:31 PM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
>
> Yes, it's a good idea, the traveling programs. There is occasionally
> talk
> of people wanting to mount a major retrospective, but I agree, that
> breaking
> that down into smaller chunks for touring would be great. . . . Though
> these things always seem to take years to organize.
>
> In the meantime, the Criterion Company has a second DVD set now in the
> works, whereby a number of films -- in that form, at least -- will be
> more
> available to people (including seven titles from the 70s).
>
> Marilyn Brakhage
>
>
>
>
> On Monday, March 30, 2009, at 02:19 AM, Ted Sonnenschein wrote:
>
>
> I thought it a credit to Brakhage that no one has yet to take this on.
> But, I also can't imagine many people have even seen even 75% of his
> output.
> When I was at SFAI around '90-'91, I was shocked at how negative so
> many
> people were towards Brakhage. I mean, viciously negative. Even Keith
> Sanborn, leading the intro class would take potshots. One time I
> recommended
> to Ernie Gehr that we watch 'Anticipation of the Night' when the film
> we
> shot for the class wasn't back from the lab (Gehr had asked what he
> thought
> we should do instead). A few from the class started to get pissed off
> and
> saying all this crap against Brakhage. Something I was, at that time,
> used
> to hearing. Gehr just smiled and decided that this was a good idea
> after
> all. Well, when that film ended, it shut them up. There was an air in
> the
> room that is hard to describe. My gut was just sore from all that
> weight.
> Gehr called for thoughts and impressions and looked at me. I had
> nothing to
> say. I don't think anyone did. I was glad to see that there is a new
> generation that seems more respectful and interested.
>
> I had recently gone to look up some information on his 70s period and
> realized then that in the dozen or so years since I looked, there
> wasn't
> much new out there. Still, the only thing that bothered me is the work
> isn't
> regularly out there to see and would I ever get to see much works from
> this
> period. I think more important than scholars, would be someone
> coordinating
> touring programs of his work, ideally programmed by period. Has anyone
> tried
> to do anything like this? Well-programmed, I think, could really get
> the
> ball rolling and possibly even finding people who would be into taking
> on
> the study of Brakhage's work. Plus, I am sure Brakhage has fans all
> over the
> world that could help get such a project rolling but I am sure most of
> the
> major film art screening houses would support such a project.
>
> Ted
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Marilyn Brakhage <email suppressed> wrote:
>
> Well, as to Mason suggesting 'his wife': Not sure which wife you're
> meaning. I am Stan Brakhage's second wife -- but, regrettably, not the
> scholar Fred describes. Nevertheless, I have several comments:
>
> 1) Bruce Elder has written an impressive book that addresses some of
> these towering ambitions (The Films of Stan Brakhage in the American
> Tradition of Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Charles Olson), and of
> course
> there are a number of others, beginning with P. Adams Sitney, from
> whom we
> also have important parts of this envisioned massive undertaking. But
> yes,
> something more, something along the lines that Fred describes, is
> definitely
> needed.
>
> 2) I wholeheartedly agree that "more than one person taking it on"
> would
> not only be fine, but probably essential.
>
> 3) Though it may be true that it's important to be gathering
> information
> now, while people are still around who knew Stan, I can also guarantee
> that
> even doing that will lead to "information" being "disputed at great
> lengths." Stan was many things to many people, full of apparent and
> sometimes rather dramatic contradictions, his "complicated life story"
> is
> inextricably bound to his work, other people have their own subjective
> experiences, subject to the vagaries of memory -- and there is already
> a lot
> of "information" floating around that I (for one) know to be untrue
> and/or
> would interpret quite differently than someone else might. Therefore
> (and
> because the sheer amount of information is so huge),
>
> 4) Well, to do it well would take someone who is also very brave,
> wise,
> comprehensive in approach, sensitive and subtle in their writing . . .
>
> BUT -- no need to wait for the perfect human being! Anyone who takes
> on
> even part of this project in good faith -- bravo!
>
> Marilyn Brakhage
>
>
>
>
> On Sunday, March 29, 2009, at 08:00 PM, Mason Shefa wrote:
>
> His wife?
>
> On Mar 28, 2009, at 1:38 PM, Fred Camper wrote:
>
> The recent talk about who is "THE" (or was that "THEE") "Brakhage
> expert"
> got me thinking. The world actually does not have the "Brakhage
> expert" that
> the scope and importance of his work requires. There is no "Brakhage
> expert"
> in the sense that in the academic community one can find, for example,
> Ezra
> Pound experts, or, more recently and sad (for me if not for others) to
> say,
> Bob Dylan experts and Madonna experts. I post this in the hope of
> interesting a young scholar, or someone else such as a film professor
> who
> might interest a young scholar, in taking on this role. More than one
> person
> taking it on would be fine too!
>
> Obviously, the expert has to be devoted, ready to spend a large part of
> her or his career on this. What's needed is someone with a deep
> interest in,
> love of, and understanding of both world cinema and Brakhage's work in
> particular. But since a large part of this project would be a working
> through of Brakhage's many influences and sources, this scholar should
> have
> deep involvements with and understandings of modern poetry, classical
> music
> from Bach to Webern to Messiaen, and Western painting. The scholar
> should be
> an avid reader, and willing and able to travel to various archives to
> track
> down Brakhage's voluminous writings, lectures, and correspondence. The
> scholar should also be an extremely fine film viewer, both open to
> multiple
> ways of seeing and capable of very careful observation. I envision the
> results would be both a massive critical biography and a shorter,
> book-length introduction. Several threads would be present in both:
> Brakhage's complicated life story, his artistic influences and the way
> they
> are reflected in his films, and examinations of the films from varied
> perspectives.
>
> Partly I write this out of regret at never having taken on this task
> myself. (For various reasons, I never felt up to it.) Obviously, a
> scholar
> who takes this on may have different ideas about what's needed; these
> are
> just my opinions. I also write out of regret at never having done the
> kind
> of massive, tape-recorded oral history I had thought of when Brakhage
> and
> some of his associates were still living. But many who knew and worked
> with
> him are still living, from a few of his high school friends to the
> filmmakers who helped him in the making of his late films. If an oral
> history is not done, the information lost will be disputed at great
> lengths
> by scholars far into the future -- just as scholars today are debating
> facts
> lost about arts from earlier centuries.
>
> Brakhage has a particular importance, due not only to the quality and
> scope of his work but to its, and his, vast influence, but there are
> many
> other filmmakers worthy of study in depth. Interested film scholars
> should,
> in my view, be devoting as much time to such projects, including
> gathering
> facts from living people in the present, as is now devoted to
> "theory," or
> to arguing about things that happened in 1897 that we will likely
> never know
> about for sure. Sadly, though, in the current climate the latter two
> options
> may be better career moves.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> _____________________
> Mason Shefa
> email suppressed
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________ For
> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________ For
> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________ For
> info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>
>
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.