Essential Brakhage: Selected Writings on Film-Making [Paperback]

Stan Brakhage (Author), Bruce R. McPherson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2001

In the course of making nearly 400 films over the past 50 years, Stan Brakhage became synonymous with independent American filmmaking, particularly its avant-garde component. This major collection of writings draws primarily upon two long out-of-print books--Metaphors on Vision and Brakhage Scrapbook. Brakhage examines filmmaking in relation to social and professional contexts, the nature of influence and collaboration, the aesthetics of personal experience, and the conditions under which various films were made. Brakhage discusses his predecessors and contemporaries, relates film to dance and poetry, and in A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book provides a manual for the novice filmmaker. Lectures, interviews, essays, and manifestos document Brakhage's personal vision and public persona.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two important but long unavailable books by experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage Metaphors on Vision and Brakhage Scrapbook are restored to print in this welcome reissue. Part of the great post-WWII generation of Americans who revolutionized every area of artistic activity, Brakhage was arguably as important to his medium as John Cage or Jackson Pollock were to theirs, and has never received his full due. This is at least partly because his work has been hard to actually see outside of a few places, and there is a lot to see 340 films over 48 years. But anyone who has seen even a minute or two of a film like Dog Star Man with its scratches and painted frames, its stunning juxtaposition of abstraction and materiality immediately recognizes not only Brakhage's singular sensibility, but also its enormous influence on our visual culture. To paraphrase David Bowie talking about the Velvet Underground, not a lot of people saw Brakhage's films, but everyone who did became a filmmaker. Luckily, Brakhage's writings convey much of the volcanic intelligence of his films, as well as eloquently extending their thematic concerns. Brakhage writes in a variety of modes, from the concise filmmaking manual of "A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book" (written as "a short book on film technique which could be read by poets") to such poetically charged texts as "Angels" and "Notes of Anticipation," in which a film's shot list resembles a text by Gertrude Stein. The book also includes a number of interviews, as well as an annotated list of key films and an extensive bibliography. This book would be important even if Brakhage were not such an engaging writer, but the eclectic range and concision of this collection make it an essential addition to the small library of film classics by filmmakers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Brakhage is celebrated as a groundbreaking experimental filmmaker. In a career spanning 50 years, he has produced over 300 films, some only a few seconds long, others several hours in length. His best-known work, the multipart Dog Star Man (1962-64), was recently included in the Library of Congress National Film Registry of outstanding films. With this anthology, the publisher offers generous excerpts from two out-of-print Brakhage books, Metaphors on Vision and Brakhage Scrapbook, plus a sampling of recent writings. McPherson describes this collection as "an entry point to the viewing and study of the films," but some essays, lectures, manifestos, program notes, and annotations require much more background and context than is provided here, particularly for a younger generation unfamiliar with the work. While some of the writing is dated, Brakhage's advice to aspiring independent filmmakers retains interest, and notes on selected films will be useful for film society programmers and scholars. Recommended for large academic film collections. Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: McPherson; 1 edition (August 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 092970164X
• ISBN-13: 978-0929701646
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best brakhage book, April 13, 2002

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"fridawali" (Granville, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Brakhage: Selected Writings on Film-Making (Paperback)

After plodding through Brakhage's "Metaphors on Vision" as well as "the Brakhage Scrapbook" during my research on this amazing filmmaker, I was thankful to find Brakhage's most interesting and significant writings collected into this single volume. It truly is the "essential brakhage." Personally, I don't really think that much of what else remains in those OTHER two volumes (all those difficult writings and collections of artist's notes and confounding letters full of puns)is worth the reading effort for most readers.

5.0 out of 5 stars Just great., January 3, 2011

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Axel Hess (Germany) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Essential Brakhage: Selected Writings on Film-Making (Paperback)

The first few seconds I saw a work of Brakhage i thought "what a junk". A moment after that, I started to get into it and now I am full of admiration for his films: Very special, very unique!