Hey folks, Harry here with Capone on the 3rd part of the CREMASTER cycle... Works of beauty by Matthew Barney that I'm dying to see on a big screen. Here ya go...
Hi, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. I’ve noticed couple of noble attempts on this site recently to describe and review the CREMASTER cycle of five films by artist Matthew Barney. I’m not sure I could have done any better explaining or describing these works than the brave souls who have done so already, but here goes.
First off I should confess that so far I’ve only seen CREMASTER 3, the final piece in the cycle and by far the longest (about three hours). And the interesting and unique thing about the series release in Chicago (it opens May 23 at the Landmark Century Centre Theatre) is that it’s actually opening in a movie theatre and not in an art gallery or performance space. This might almost be considered a bad thing because getting as much information about the series before you see it would absolutely help you appreciate and understand it better. A museum (in the form of accompanying literature) would offer viewers the necessary background into the film and into Barney. Seeing these film cold in a movie theatre setting could be a bit confusing. But my belief is that seeing the cycle in any format under any circumstances is better than not seeing it at all. Put aside all of your classic beliefs in story telling devices, timelines, chronology, and plot. This is one man’s vision. It’s accessible, slightly pretentious, and visually stunning, bordering on shocking at times.
CREMASTER 3 is about building, in every sense of the word. Set in New York City, we see the construction of the Chrysler Building, but we also are taken on a journey to watch the building of a masonry apprentice (played by Barney) into a Master Mason. I’m losing some of you already, I can tell. There is no dialogue in CREMASTER 3, which is not to say there isn’t any sound. Quite the contrary, sound is half the story here. The music Barney chooses is soothing at times, jarring and upsetting other times. I’m not going to bother getting into specific “plot” points. At its core, CREMASTER is about the visuals, and Barney presents us with some of the most inventive and memorable images ever committed to film. As the film begins, a corpse digs its way out of a grave (apparently a character leftover from CREMASTER 2); later an elegant demolition derby takes place; a dangling elevator cab is filled to the rim with concrete and then dropped; there’s a lengthy slapstick sequence in the Chrysler Building’s Cloud Club bar that reminded me a lot of something the Coen Brothers might try; and a rather nasty dental operation scene might upset some people.
But the high point of the film is an interlude during the end of the piece where the apprentice goes through a symbolic initiation into the Masonic fraternity “through allegorical representations of the five-part CREMASTER cycle.” (Press notes rock!). A wildly disfigured Barney literally scales the inside of the Guggenheim Museum. On each level, he confronts a fantastical incarnation of the many obstacles he must overcome. Not having seen the other four CREMASTER works (I will when they open here on May 30), I’m sure I missed some of the meaning of these obstacles, but it doesn’t matter. You can’t take your eyes off the screen. There’s a sexy little half woman-half cheetah, hardcore bands Murphy’s Law and Agnostic Front, a guy slinging molten vaseline, and the Order of the Rainbow for Girls. You have no clue what will confront this guy next, and Barney’s ability to build tension and even fear is incredible. Half the time you don’t even know why your heart is racing; it just is.
For those who like their movie-going experiences easy to understand and linear, stay far, far away from the CREMASTER films. For those willing to take a risk with your minds, Barney’s dense and complicated works will challenge you and possibly tax your patience, but they will not bore you. Think of it as David Lynch cubed. Free your minds, y’all.
Capone
