Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Kustom Kar Kommandos & Eaux d'Artifice (Kenneth Anger)

These two Kenneth Anger shorts were great, although not quite what I expected after seeing Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome.
Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965)
This 3 minute film can be summed up very quickly- a shirtless man festishically cleans a muscle car in a bizarre pink space (I couldn't figure out where it was, a pink painted room or what). The color was amazing. The sound is Dream Lover, a 1960's pop song. The shots idealize the man's body as a sexual object.
I was very impressed by the lighting in this film- the car gleams. Never have I wanted a car so badly. In a way, the film acts as an advertisement, but I think it was more about the creation of desire. By using "beauty" shots of the man and the car, and their interaction, Anger manufactures a desire, but refuses to give us any additional information. I have no idea what car it was or who the actor was- we're left with no action to take but sublimate our new desire.

Eaux d'Artifice (1953)
To quickly describe this film- a woman dressed, as I think it is easiest to describe, like Marie Antoinette, runs through a garden appropriate to Marie Antoinette. There are a lot of beautiful closeups of the water and fountains that dominate the landscape. The film is in black and white, with a flash of color- when the actress pulls out a fan, it flashes gold. I think it was hand painted, but honestly I'm not sure.
Many of the closeups use different camera speeds, which manipulate the way the water shows up on film. It was surprisingly beautiful, as many of the water shots began to make me think about bodily fluids- especially saliva and urine. I found this to be a very pretty film, but the least favorite of the Anger films I have seen so far.

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