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Aug 31, 2010 Web Exclusive By Iain Stasukevich

For some people, experimental film is completely inaccessible. By and large, cinema as a popular medium is driven by clear narrative and stylistic forces, and other than the occasionally abstract music video, divergences are generally met with boredom or disinterest.

The work of Stan Brakhage lies somewhere in between clear and abstract. Yes, experimental film can lack a certain cohesiveness, usually because in its purest effective form, cinema can be about as abstract as a string of random thoughts. If the filmmaker’s intent is clear enough, however, the ideas being conveyed gradually rise to the forefront. It’s like those magic eye paintings you used to find in the mall, where you have to stare at a mass of squiggles and colors, relax your eyes, and after awhile, the traces of a familiar object emerge. That’s Brakhage.

Some of the things you see in An Anthology, Volume Two: 23rd Psalm Branch, his epic, 63-minute statement on the terrors of war, The Wonder Ring, a sweet farewell to New York’s Third Avenue el station, and his later, highly psychedelic hand-painted series, Persian and ”...” (Ellipses). The 3-disc set runs about 454 minutes over the course of 30 films.

Like Volume One, this collection is curated by Brakhage’s widow, Marilyn, and comes with a booklet filled with not only insightful commentary on each film, but also with detailed technical information on the restoration process by Motion Picture Academy preservationist Mark Toscano. (www.criterion.com)

Author rating: 10/10