Editorial Review:

Description:
Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous HOLLYWOOD BABYLON books and creator of some of the most striking and beautiful works in the history of film, Kenneth Anger is a singular figure in post-war American culture.
A major influence on everything from the films of Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and David Lynch to the pop art of Andy Warhol to MTV, Anger's work serves as a talisman of universal symbols and personal obsessions, combining myth, artifice and ritual to render cinema with the power of spell or incantation.
Covering the first half of Anger's career, from his landmark debut FIREWORKS in 1947 to his epic bacchanalia INAGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME, Fantoma is very proud to present the long-awaited first volume of films by this revolutionary and groundbreaking maverick, painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time.

Contains the films:
Fireworks (1947)
Puce Moment (1949)
Rabbit's Moon (1950, the rarely seen original 16 minute version)
Eaux d'Artifice (1953)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)

Amazon.com:
Recently restored by the UCLA Film Archive, Kenneth Anger's difficult-to-see early films are finally collected here onto DVD, alongside optional fascinating commentary by Anger himself. Scores of Anger fans have previously persevered through horrid rented VHS copies of these films, due to their inimitable beauty and strangeness. Anger is renowned for filmic experimentation that portrays invented occult or druggy subcultures while formally rejecting conventions of blockbuster filmmaking. As a result, he has also become the unofficial godfather of the music video, for his groundbreaking use of soundtracks that, in these early films at least, meld classical music with '50s bubble gum pop and '60s folk for a hypnotic, psychedelic effect. Fireworks is a monumental film credited as gay cinema's first masterpiece. Rabbit's Moon, presented in its original 16-minute version, and Eaux d'Artifice are Anger's two other brilliant black-and-white studies of European culture, namely Miming and the 17th century art of Water Fountains. Anger's commentary reveals directorial secrets, for example that Eaux d'Artifice's black-and-white appearance is tromp l'oeil that involved both manipulation of the camera and film development to heighten the film's metaphoric notion of artifice. Puce Moment, starring Yvonne Marquis, is a colorful, campy tribute to silent film glamour, in which the star debates what gown to wear for a party. Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome is the first Anger film to investigate mythology in relation to Aleister Crowley's witchcraft, subject matter that consumed Anger in consequent projects. Kenneth Anger's films exist in a timeless, stylized void that is both alluring and terrifying. Watching these selections will prove that Anger's aesthetic contributions to cinema are noticeable fifty years later. --Trinie Dalton

i loved it i thought i was very interesting and entertaining. even if your not into these kinda movies I think anyone would like it.

Average Rating:

Rating: - Loved it!
i loved it i thought i was very interesting and entertaining. even if your not into these kinda movies I think anyone would like it.

Rating: - Beautiful treatment!
I have to commend the makers of these DVD sets. Anger's work looks amazingly beautiful! The entire treatment deserves closer examination, anyone who considers themselves a fan of Anger's work probably already have these on their shelves. Essential underground cinema.

---

Rating: - In Xanadu did Kenneth Anger...
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (Kenneth Anger, 1966)

So I finally sat down and watched Kenneth Anger's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, a 38-minute short that sits on Jonathan Rosenbaum's list of the best 1000 films ever made. And I had no earthly idea what I was seeing. So I watched it again. And pretty soon I found myself getting into the same vibe with Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome that I did with Begotten about ten years ago-- no matter how many times I watch it, I cannot exorcise it from my head. Unlike Begotten, which I consider one of the ten best movies ever made, I can't tell yet whether I actually like Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, but it's certainly stamped itself as unforgettable.

There's no use in relaying any sort of plot; if there is one, I still haven't found it. It is, instead, a set piece; an overlord of some sort has a gathering planned. The guests arrive. We meet them, get to know each one a bit. And then, something happens. What? I've no idea. And given the number of times I've watched this-- and Anger's lack of distorting techniques such as those used by Merhige-- that's saying something. Oh, and did I mention that the whole thing has, as a soundtrack, a Leos Janacek mass?

Honestly, I'm not sure I can tell you anything of substance about this movie. It's brilliantly shot; I am of the suspicion that a number of acid-trip-style sequences from later films (Psychomania and Easy Rider certainly come to mind) were strongly influenced by this movie. That alone should be reason for film buffs to seek it out. For the casual movie fan, though? I do suspect that the average Joe would look at this, wonder what's going on for a couple of minutes, and reach for the remote. But it is worth looking into; you may find yourself obsessed. ***

---

Rating: - The Most Influential Filmmaker You've Never Heard Of
To the general public Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Anglemyer in 1927 California) is probably best known for the book HOLLYWOOD BABLYON, which chronicles the less savory side of America's favorite "golden age" stars. But in fine arts circles Anger is best known for short films that mix lushly beautiful imagery with an often unsettling atmosphere--and while they have been seldom seen outside art house theatres and colleges, they have extremely influential over the years. Until quite recently the only way to see an Anger film was on the big screen or in really bad video tape transfers. Fortunately, UCLA has restored many of Anger's films and they are now available in near-pristine condition on DVD.

THE FILMS OF KENNETH ANGER VOLUME I contains five Anger films: FIREWORKS (1947), PUCE MOMENT (1949), RABBIT'S MOON (1950), EAUX D'ARTIFICE (1953), and INAUGURATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME (1954.) The length of the films vary between about six minutes and half an hour, with FIREWORKS and PLEASURE DOME probably the most widely seen titles. Although each film is quite different, each is similar in that it mixes remarkable images to poetic effect against a highly variable soundtrack--a fact that has made many refer to Anger as "the father of the music video." As the films progress they also tend to acquire a faintly claustrophobic, vaguely creepy quality in a way that is extremely difficult to define.

FIREWORKS originally launched Anger to fame. About fifteen minutes long, like most Anger films it has a dream quality; unlike most Anger films, however, it is very specifically presented as a dream---a young gay man's fantasy about sailors laced with violence and humiliation and touched with Freudian overtones in which Anger makes a time-honored link between semen, blood, and milk. PUCE MOMENT clocks in at about six minutes, a colorful swirl of dancing dresses and a silent-era-like beauty queen who opts for a puce dress before facing the world.

Anger has cut RABBIT'S MOON in several different ways; this particular version runs at about sixteen minutes and features a classic commedia del arte tale touched up with Asian references and played out against 1950s do-wop music that references both night and the moon. Although this is in some ways conventional in the sense that offers a clear story, it is also in some ways one of Anger's more challenging pieces; the pace is very slow and several viewings may be required to see the beauty of the work. EAUX D'ARTIFICE, a remarkably beautiful film running about fifteen minutes, presents us with a European water garden through which a miniature figure strolls to the strains of Vivaldi.

And then there is INAUGRATION OF THE PLEASURE DOME, a truly bizarre, color-saturated film that was apparently inspired by a over-the-top costume party. In this longer piece, which runs about half an hour, Anger plays with mythology and design in a way that recalls Beardsley and the "decadents" of the late 1800s. It is splashy, beautiful, ugly, and psychedelic before the word psychedelic was coined.

Anger is not a filmmaker for everyone. His films are essentially dreamscapes that acquire impact through the repetition and variation of images; there are no "stories," no dialogue, nothing but the visual fused with music. But for those who have an eye for such, he is a remarkable artist. The DVD contains the bonus of an audio track by Anger himself, which is sometimes fascinating and sometimes frustrating---much like the films themselves. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

---

Rating: - Happy about Anger
I was lucky enough to watch some of these films on the big screen earlier this year- with Kenneth Anger in attendance doing a Q&A. The prints are spectacular, the material both inflamatory and (by modern standards) quaint.

I have both volumes.

And at this price? A deal you can't beat.

see more

Related Items:

The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vol. 2

Maya Deren: Experimental Films

Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema 1928-1954

The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain)

By Brakhage - Anthology - Criterion Collection