Cheap By Brakhage - Anthology - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Stan Brakhage) Price

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Customer Reviews of By Brakhage - Anthology - Criterion Collection

"Mothlight," however, is instantly fascinating. Brakhage glued insect wings and plants onto the film itself and the result is really remarkable. "The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes" is also trying because it consists of thirty minutes of autopsy footage. (I couldn't get through it.) "Wedlock House" is a film with striking use of black and white that depicts Brakhage's tumultuous marriage to his first wife and even includes footage of their lovemaking.

"Window Water Baby Moving" is my favorite film of the collection and perhaps one of my favorite films ever, a beautiful document of the birth of Brakhage's first child. Brakhage's films seem to hark back to the most primal nature of cinema, and this film does so most touchingly by addressing man's inherent curiosity about birth and the creation of life. It is stunning and very moving.

All of the films look superb. Criterion has really done a spectacular job with this collection and the extras are very interesting as well, giving Brakhage himself a chance to comment on almost all of the films individually. By reading other reviews of this work you should be able to tell whether it's something you would be interested in, as it is not for everyone.

Amazing
I had heard about Stan Brakhage and his films long before coming across this collection, and now I wish there were a few more disks here. Stan Brakhage was very prolific, and this is only a portion of his work-- although it does include "Dog Star Man" in its entirety.

For those who haven't seen Brakhage's films: most of the films on this collection are silent (although there are separate commentary tracks for each one) and many of them either rely on rapid cutting or are painted directly onto the film. It would be difficult to watch the whole collection at once because of the stroboscopic effect that Brakhage achieves; I would advise taking a break beween films in order to let your eyes go back to normal. In any case, these movies weren't meant to be watched in one big lump; this is a great collection to dip into when you're in the mood.

A word about the transfer: the colors in the painted films are the most vibrant I've seen on a DVD; kudos to the technical people involved in the video transfer.

be sure b 4 u buy!!!!
be warned!this dvd is not going to appeal to the "average joe" because it doesn't make much sense and is to be considered art.if that actually sounds trippy to you,you'll probably love it as I do!this is the perfect example of just why dvd's are such an improved format versus vhs-many of the images mr brakhage presents to the viewer go by so quickly you find it hard to distinguish what they look like,or somtimes there is a frame that looks so trippy you just have to pause it.and that is the real treat-the fact that you can pause the frames.another good thing about the dvd is stan's commentary on most of the films.he helps the veiwer to put into perspective his ideas on what he hoped to accomplish or put forth on each film.the squeamish will want to steer clear of the film with the autopsy footage,but all the others should be acceptable to most folks.
the bottom line is that it's a great dvd that'll provide hours upon hours of entertainment,and any lover of the arts should grab this one up!(one thing I found that makes for an even more interesting experience while watching the films is to put on some music because most of them are silent.some musical suggestings to go along are buckethead's "electric tears",any angelo badalamenti movie score,litsz' dante symphony,any kronos quartet,and of coarse philip glass.these are all pretty mellow cd's with lots of "color" to them with goes VERY well with the overall tempo of the films.)