Harry Smith's 11 (-1/3)

Cut out animation from the American magus. I had to cut off the last third to bring it under YouTube's 10 minute limit. But you can simulate the missing piece by going back to the beginning and playing the first half again.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• animation
• magik
• harry
• smith
• avant
• garde
• beat
• alchemy
• thelonius
• monk

[willieluncheonette]

@keyboardhero521 Good appreciation! As they say in the song, I second your emotion.This week I'm going to Anthology Archives to find out their recommendation for the best transfers of Harry's work. Have you ever seen his, I think they were called, late superimpositions. No animation but very very visually exciting live footage.

[willieluncheonette]

The soundtrack is the original version of MIsterioso recorded in 1947 with Milt Jackson vibes, John Simmons bass, Shadow Wilson Drums. Jackson was an outstanding interpreter of Monk's music.Harry Smith himself actually is the recording engineer on this Blue Note session so he must have known Monk very well. This film certainly is a masterpiece with its incredible Monk score. Monk's 3 min. 18 sec. song is one of the greatest pieces of American music of any kind. And Smith is absolutely unique.

[keyboardhero521]

I am shocked by this film's beauty. The melodious and meditative mutations and fusions of images to the rhythms of Monk is one of the great discoveries in American animation very rarely repeated. It is animation as both quirky entertainment and a surreal vision quest, something that excites the eye and stimulates the mind in unpredicrable ways. Pixar has earned their bragging rights in terms of storytelling and image detail, but they cannot recreate Harry Smith's mind trips.

[cormacbrowne]

@luxmovingimage - That's great, thanks for the post. I was scratching my head wondering how to find more by Smith. Keep up the good work!

ps Youtube, Lux is not spam! ;)

[datalal624]

I haven't seen this work of genius since Film Studies class, years ago. Wow!

And since there's some confusion about the song, it is Thelonious Monk's "Misterioso", from the 1958 album of the same name.

[datalal624]

I haven't seen this work of genius since Film Studies class years ago. Thank-you for posting it!

[cuethesun93]

i saw this in the Guggenheim. the colors were much more vibrant. but thank you very much for uploading!

[tapyenreit]

You all want more of this kinda stuff? See an amazing contemporary independent filmmaker named Lewis Clar.

[creten69]

its called the rise of the kinder gentler illuminatii.

[sportmurphy]

It's a Blue Note side, reissued on the "Genius of Modern Music" lp and, I think, a Monk "complete Blue Note recordings" cd set. Killer.