Author Topic: Avant-garde films online  (Read 2161 times)

moremojo

  • Guest
Avant-garde films online
« on: August 11, 2007, 07:52:52 pm »
I was unspeakably delighted in the wee hours of this fine Saturday to discover that one of my very favorite films, and a work that I think is one of the masterpieces of world cinema, is available for online downloading, absolutely free. The film is Der Tod der Maria Malibran (The Death of Maria Malibran), produced by West German television (ZDF) in 1972 and first shown via that medium, and conceived and directed by Werner Schroeter, one of the seminal figures of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and 1970s. The film is provided by a website called UbuWeb, and can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.ubu.com/film/schroeter.html

The film is shown without English subtitles (as is apparently the case with all the other non-English language titles offered), and the almost complete lack of narrative for about the first half would compound the film's difficulties for those just discovering it; should one stay with it, a narrative does begin to coalesce about halfway through, by which time the work's extravagant stylization might not seem so jarring. The visual quality of the streaming is rather poor, but even so, one might still enjoy the movie's often beautiful and always eclectic musical soundtrack. One will also have the opportunity to see one of the cinema's greatest actresses, the late Magdalena Montezuma, at the peak of her powers as the titular character; the supporting cast include Ingrid Caven, Andy Warhol Superstar Candy Darling, Christine Kauffmann, and Annette Tirier, the latter sharing one of the most magnificent of all screen kisses with Montezuma.

Among the treasures offered by the site is the sole directed film by Jean Genet, French prophet of proletarian homosexuality, a 1950 classic called Un chant d'amour. This was the first time I had seen this much discussed but little seen milestone of early gay cinema, and I found the film quite memorable and beautiful. Here is the link:
 
http://www.ubu.com/film/genet.html

The other important and varied artists represented by the site include such names as Walerian Borowczyk, Maya Deren, Kurt Kren, George Kuchar (who I once had the great honor of meeting in person), Otto Muehl, Jack Smith, and Shuji Terayama. A very interesting site to know about and potentially explore.

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Avant-garde films online
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2007, 08:47:16 pm »
Thanks for letting us know about this, Scott! This is something I will want to investigate asap!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"