UNDERGROUND FILM GROUND FILMS AND THEIR MAKERS W PAPERBACK ORIGINAL $2.25 IN CANADA $2.70 Q fc « W « w K CO W D ^ An Introduction to the American Underground Film o< V j^^^^^ -r^*^, -^^ -'t.^^'^^" Sheldon Renan was born in Pordand, Oregon, in 1941. He became addicted to the film medium during his four years at Yale University, where he was a member of the Scholar of the House Program. After graduation in 1963, he spent much of his time scurrying from one movie theatre to another, and did not emerge from the darkness until 1966, when he married, wrote this book, and settled near San Francisco. An Introduction to by Sheldon Renan A Button m Paperback New York E. P. BUTTON & CO., INC. This paperback edition of "An Introduction to the American Underground Film" First published 1967 by E. P. Button & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright (c) 1967 by Sheldon Renan No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, whatsoever with- out permission in writing from the publishers, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper or broadcasts. Published simultaneously in Canada by Clarke, Irwin and Company Limited, Toronto and Vancouver. Foreword It is with very special pleasure that I respond to Sheldon Kenan's invitation to write the foreword to his book. We met while we were screening films for THE INDEPENDENT FILM, the exhibition which introduced me as the new di- rector of The Museum of Modern Art's Department of Film, and it was then that I first saw the avidity, energy, and dedication he brought to looking at films. This book is elo- quent proof of his labors. But why should a documentary film-maker comment on the underground film? We documentarists have been, and are, concerned with the presentation of the "real" world with special emphasis on its problems. From the beginning we have tried to involve the spectator in an experience that could lead to change. If there is a problem affecting a great many people, and there usually are problems affecting a great many people, why not make a film about it? Maybe someone will do something. But the kind of film we might choose to make, the de- vices and techniques, the style of the photography, the ap- proach to the sound track, have always been the subjects for exploration by the film-maker, whatever his persuasion. So we have that in common. And let us be clear, documen- tarists or any other kind of film-maker, we are all working on the problems of form and content, consciously or other- wise. We begin and end with a dream. The beginning differs with each of us, but the final product is up there on the screen, in the form of moving shadows, for everyone to see. Just moving shadows. If you think they represent reality, that is your interpretation. 6 Foreword In the beginning, as Mr. Renan tells us, there were two film-makers who seemingly were very different. Lumiere, convinced that photography was indeed the medium of real- ism, and Melies, who assimilated it into his bag of magic tricks. They were blood brothers, as the final test proved, for audiences were moved by the shifting shadows created by both, and that was the idea the film-makers had in mind. As a documentarist, I have always been slightly envious, however, of the artist who makes his personal statement without compromise. Films cost money, and to travel to un- derdeveloped places with camera and crew is beyond the resources of most film-makers. No matter how much one would wish to make an impassioned film plea for justice in the Congo, for instance, the direct experience of finding the appropriate images on the spot and transferring them to film is out of the question without substantial financial support from someone. And if such aid is forthcoming, it will be from sources that have a stake in the kind of film that is to be made. You have to be lucky to have a sponsor whose goal is the same as yours. But if you have something to say, and only yourself to satisfy, the limitations are your skill, the persistence of your vision, and the availability of a little money. You may even destroy your work when you finish; it is yours, but if you share it with others, so much the better. Mr. Renan has described many visual delights, but no matter how skillfully they may be used, words are no sub- stitute for those elusive shifting shadows. This introduction to the underground film will help you to choose which ones suit your particular fancy. WiLLARD Van Dyke The Museum of Modern Art New York, N.Y. Preface I was a compulsive movie-goer. Not a critic, really, and cer- tainly not a scholar. I had exhausted the films available at the time in commercial theatres, and I went "underground" in search of more and different kinds of films to see. I wrote this book to aid me in my search. I started looking in the Spring of 1965, and I started writing in the Spring of 1966. When I started writing, I stopped looking, and although some information was added, this is an introduction to the underground film as it was circa Spring 1966. I did not manage to see all the films I have written about here. (Nor have I written about all the films I saw.) Espe- cially with regard to the older avant-garde and experimental films, I relied heavily on the content of those sources men- tioned in the bibliography. Regarding the illustrations, most of the photographs in this book are pale (and frequently scratched) shadows of the films they represent. This is because they are frame blowups reproduced directly from the films. Illustrations of commercial films are never taken from the films themselves. They are posed photographs taken by a special "still" photog- rapher on the movie set during the filming of the production. Underground film-makers, of course, cannot afford this ex- pense. Hence the need for frame blowups. The number of people imposed upon in the writing of this book was enormous. The cooperation given by the staffs of the Film-makers' Cooperative, the Film-makers' Cinematheque, Cinema 16, the Museum of Modern Art De- 8 Preface partment of Film, Audio Film Center, and the Creative Film Society was indispensable. Of the many individuals who gave information and aid I will mention only Jonas Mekas, Amos Vogel, Adrienne Mancia, Joseph Longo, Gretchen Berg, Jack Stauffacher, P. Adams Sitney, Ken Kelman, Eileen Bowser, Margareta Akermark, Standish Lawder, and, of course, the film-makers themselves. I never would have managed to start, let alone finish, the actual writing of this book without the constant encouragement of my wife Barbara. And both book and author would have been much thinner without the sup- port of Arthur I. Cohen, the Kenans, the Strosses, and for the final push, the Rockefeller Foundation. Sheldon Renan El Cerrito, California Contents Foreword 5 Preface 7 List of Illustrations 11 One: What Is the Underground Film? 17 Two: A History of the Avant-Garde/ Experimental/ Underground Film in America 53 Three: A Gallery of Film-Makers 107 Four: Stars of the Underground Films 197 Five: The Underground Establishment 209 Six: Expanded Cinema 227 Appendix 259 Bibliography 295 Index 297 List of Illustrations Andy Warhol: From Kiss 16 Robert Breer: From Fist Fight 19 Bruce Baillie: From Quixote 20 Examples of 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film 24 Stan Brakhage: From 15 Song Traits 26 Kenneth Anger: From Scorpio Rising 28 Bruce Baillie: From Quixote 29 Bruce Conner: From Cosmic Ray 30 Stan Brakhage: Patterns created by mold grown on film 38 George Landow: From Fleming Faloon 40 Jean Cocteau: From La Belle et la Bete 43 Roberto Rossellini: From Open City 44 John Cassavetes: From Shadows 45 Peter Emanuel Goldman: From Echoes of Silence 50 Georges Melies: From The Man with the Rubber Head 52 Louis Feuillade: From Les Vampires 55 Mack Sennett: From Murphy's I.O.U. 56 Robert Wiene: From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 58 Hans Richter: From Film Study 60 Rene Clair: From Entr'acte 63 Man Ray: From Emak Bakia 65 Luis Bunuel: From Un Chien Andalou 68—69 Luis Buiiuel: From VAge d'Or 70 Dziga Vertov: From Man with a Camera 73 George Hugnetos: From La Perle 74 James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber: From Lot in Sodom 77 Ralph Steiner: From H,0 78 11 12 List of Illustrations Emlen Etting: From Oramunde 80 Maya Deren: From Meshes of the Afternoon 85 Maya Deren: From The Very Eye of Night 86 Sidney Peterson: From The Cage 89 Francis Thompson: From N.Y., N.Y. 92 Kenneth Anger 106 Kenneth Anger: From Scorpio Rising 110 Kenneth Anger: From Scorpio Rising 111 Bruce BailHe: From Mass 114 Jordan Belson: From Allures 117 Stan Brakhage: From Flesh of Morning 121 Stan Brakhage: From Dog Star Man, Part Two 124 Stan Brakhage: From 23rd Psalm Branch 125 Stan and Jane Brakhage 126 Robert Branaman 128 Robert Breer 130 Robert Breer: From Fist Fight 132 Robert Breer: From Breathing 133 Red Grooms 135 Bruce Conner 136 Tony Conrad: From The Flicker 139 Carmen D'Avino 142 Ed Emshwiller: From Thanatopsis 144 Peter Emanuel Goldman: From Echoes of Silence 146 Ken Jacobs 148 Ken Jacobs: From Star Spangled to Death 150-51 Larry Jordan: From Duo Concertantes 154 View of the set for Stanton Kaye's Georg 156 Mike Kuchar: From The Secret of Wendel Samson 159 George Kuchar: From Hold Me While I'm Naked 160 George Landow: From Film in Which There Appear Sprocket Holes, Edge Lettering, Dirt Particles, Etc.