Anger Me trailer

Dir. Elio Gelmini
2006 72 min. Canada

"Anger Me" documents the life and works of Kenneth Anger, pivotal figure in the history of experimental film. A major personality of the 1960's and 1970's who defined himself as a "cinematographic magician" and his "cinema" as a ritualistic form, he is particularly well-known for his films "Fireworks" (1947), "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" (1954), "Scorpio Rising" (1963) and "Lucifer Rising" (1970-1981). Kenneth credits the use of esoteric symbolism, prevalent in his films, to Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), the great magician, advocate of Gnosticism and neo-paganism.

Contemporaries like Stan Brakhage and Harry Smith were influenced by and expanded upon Anger's approach in what was known as Underground film. Later on, this "underground" influenced Martin Scorsese-the contemporary mainstream exponent of this expressionistic style-who openly acknowledges Anger's influence on his film technique. Kenneth is also known as the author of the tell-all series of books on sordid scandals of many famous and infamous Hollywood denizens from the 1900s to the 1950s entitled "Hollywood Babylon" originally published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert (well known for publishing the work of the Marquis de Sade in the early 1950s and the first publisher of "Story of O") in France.

This unprecedented documentary includes a special appearance of Jonas Mekas, the godfather of American avant-garde filmmaking, and music by Bobby Beausoleil, Steven Brown, Nikolas Klau, Tuxedomoon, Trevor Tureski & Richard Sacks.

http://cart.frameline.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=T742

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Kenneth
• Anger
• underground
• queer
• film
• avant-garde
• experimental
• Frameline

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