A whooping 56 films by Stan Brakhage in one luxurious box set
Dog Star Man (1964)
Just a friendly reminder that Stan Brakhage is on blu-ray, and standard definition, with The Criterion Collection‘s recent release, by Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One and Two.
The box set contains three discs and compiles the previously released by Brakhage: An Anthology Volume One with the ripe Volume Two. As expected, Criterion dressed it with gorgeous artwork; sheer decadence; mouth watering. The titling on the artwork is a scan-replication of Brakhage’s white paint signature on black-leader, which appeared on the tail end of his films. (It might be a white grease-pen signature, please correct me if I’m wrong.)
Volume One featured 26 Brakhage films; Volume Two features 30 films, from 1950s films to his closing films of the ’00s. Therefore, this release contains a whooping grand total of 56 films by Stan Brakhage; however, Brakhage’s work is 350+ films in breadth. That leaves 294 Brakhage films yet to see a blu-ray release. As expected, Criterion includes copious supplements, including an essay by Brakhage expert, Fred Camper, whose work was recently featured on this site.
View the details on this release, the films included, watch a film clip, or purchase this release by clicking this link. Sidenote: read this brief Brakhage interview where Stan shares his thoughts on video, and how the Sundance Channel aired Dog Star Man (1961–’64), his epic trilogy, in 2001.
Criterion Collection Synopsis:
Working outside the mainstream, the wildly prolific, visionary Stan Brakhage made more than 350 films over a half century. Challenging all taboos in his exploration of “birth, sex, death, and the search for God,” he turned his camera on explicit lovemaking, childbirth, even autopsy. Many of his most famous works pursue the nature of vision itself and transcend the act of filming. Some, including the legendary Mothlight, were created without using a camera at all, as he pioneered the art of making images directly on film, by drawing, painting, and scratching. With these two volumes, we present the definitive Brakhage collection—fifty-six of his works, from across his career, in high-definition digital transfers.
More:
By Brakhage: The Act of Seeing by Fred Camper
Before the Beginning was the Word: Stan Brakhage’s
Stan Brakhage Filmography (via Fred Camper)
