As an archaeologist I've worked on several projects where we have literally disassembled an old building, event working down through layers of paint. The idea that a structure would contain the nuanced remnants of it past is not unfamiliar to me so I guess I connected on a quirky level with a quirky film. I also found the idea of one continuous shoot to be fascinating. I kept looking for a cut but I think they pulled it off.
When I hear "avantguard" films, I think of films that are really off the wall. "The Duve" is a parody of Ingmar Bergman's films. It isn't hilarious to those without any knowledge of Bergman. Bergman, himself, was a very avantguard film director. 'Wild Strawberies," "Through a Glass Darkly," "Winter Light.," Silence" to name a few.
"The Duve" is a 15 minute romp. The dialogue is mock Swedish. Although it sounds Swedish it isn't. If you ever get this gem, don't tell your guests it's mock Swedish. let them discover it.
The one person in the film with any celebrity status is the late Madelaine Kahn.
The movie opens with a professor in a chauffer driven limousine. He is taken to an outhouse in the woods where he procee to take a **** ( drops his pants and shorts but tastefully.} He now has memories from the past including his
relationship wth his incestuous sister, The devil playing badminton etc.
To be honest, I'm not much for avant-garde films, but Bergman's "Wild Strawberries" really drew me in. You just have to see it. I got caught up in the images and the mood of the film, and couldn't stop watching it!
Another I'd recommend is one that was done back in the 1960's called "Blow Up." It was produced by Carlo Ponti, but shot in England using English actors (including Vanessa Redgrave in what must have been one of her earliest roles).
It's very dated, but that also makes it interesting. It gives you a real slice of life (ok, maybe "surrealistic" life) from the sixties. It's about a photographer who looks at people, life and everything around him -- everything that happens -- as if it's a potential "photograph." Everything is just fodder for his camera -- including a murder that transpires while he's shooting pictures in the park.
It's an interesting film.
One of the shots from Cocteau's "Blood of a Poet."
The "statue" in the image is a live actor, among several scenes where statuary comes alive. The film begins with a collapsing smoke stack, an eerie prediction of the collapsing towers of 9/11. It might even bring up phallic malfunction!
This 50 minute non-narrative film was the first part of the "Orphic trilogy."
Here are some other titles of interest;
Avant Guard: Experimental Cinema of the 20's and 30's (the Village Voice said that this collection is why they invented DVDs)
Decasia: The State of Decay
Mysterious Object at Noon
Anthology of Surreal Cinema, shorts made by Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and others in the 20's
anything by Stan Brakage
Berlin: Symphony of a City (1927)
anything by Maya Deren
Coward bends a Knee
people already said this, but Cocteau's "Blood of a Poet" I also really liked "A Propos de Nice" Basically any French film made around the 20s
Avant guard - " 32 short films about Glenn Gould"
That's a real title. Glen Gould was a very eccentric Canadian classical pianest. He never played for a live audience. He only recorded.
He never left his home in daylight.
I'll bet you are all scrambling to locate a copy!!!
Another number title: "100 Reminescences of Lithuania"
This was filmed by Jonas Mekas, the founder of avantguard films in the USA. I actually saw it in New York City on the lower east side.
Yeah, I've read some biographies of Gould over the years. He was one eccentric fellow. His performances of Bach's work were the first I've ever heard played on the piano. Until then, I had only heard them performed on period instruments like the harpsichord or the clavier. That had become all the rage in the 80's while I was growing up.
I got his I've got "32 short films about Glenn Gould" somewhere among the 500 movies on my NetFlix queue. I think I'll bump it up to 1.
Gould was unique in laying off the pedals when he performed. The film is also unique as a biographical documentary. There isn't anything quite like it.
Hero see the film Hero for the best cinematography.
A movie called "La Familia". It came on TV - with English subtitiles. Loved it.
Look for a movie called "Mimetoliths" it pertains to a world that exists here but not many has seen it. Coming to a film festival sometime over the next 8 months.
