About 6 years or so ago, during my first semester of college, I took a film class (one of many). One class the topic was surealist films. I had become interested in surrealist art in high school but I had never seen any surrealist movies (this is what I loved about college. being exposed to things you often wouldn't seek out on your own). The teacher showed us 3 films: Bunuel's "Un Chien Analou", Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" and another film called "The Jetty" (forget the director).
Well, "Un Chien Anadalou" comes on and I'm floored. It's really great. I love weird things and this is a very weird film! And "Meshes" was really great too, very creepy and odd. "The Jetty" was okay but didn't impress me as much as the first two. After that class I began to seek out more weird films, which led me to stuff like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and Soderberg's "Schizopolis". My second year of college I took another film class and once again there was a surrealist class, though this one didn't impress me as much as the first. Once again I saw "Andalou" but the other two this time were "The Clergyman and the Seashore" (I think that's the title) and "Crazy Ray".
As college went on my interests veered away from film to experimental books and comics. But last year I read Grant Morrison's comic "Doom Patrol" and at the end of his first issue he wrote that some of his inspirations included the films of Jan Svankmajer, Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon", Kenneth Anger's "Eaux D'Artifice" and other surrealist films. Around this time a friend had taken an interest in directing surrealist films and it was starting to rub off on me. So I decided to re-explore this genre.
Right. Recently I got the "Collected Work Of Jan Svankmajer volume 1" and liked it so much I ordered volume 2 and his version of Alice in Wonderland. I also ordered a DVD collection of Maya Deren's films (can't wait to see "Meshes" again after all these years) and Kenneth Anger's "Lucifer Rising/Invocation of My Demon Brother". As if all that wasn't enough I also got a Bunuel 4 movie collection which includes "Andalou" and "L' Age D'Or", which I've always wanted to see. And today I got a DVD of Brothers Quay films, mainly because I know Svankmajer influenced them and because the Quays influenced the Nine Inch Nails video "Closer", one of my all-time favorite music videos.
So, giving what I've seen, any suggestions about other surrealist directors/films worth seeking out, in your opinion? I figure this is the best place to ask a question like this. |
