umacfilmsoc

Desistfilm is a prototype horror movie, shot through with the quicksilver sensibilities of Cocteau and Epstein – a group of young adults isolated in a house in the woods; a darkening of mood into paranoia and violence as a gang of sexually frustrated men hurl one of their number in a makeshift trampoline, as inarticulate voices howl on the soundtrack, then chase him through the twilight forest as he flees. Lighting effects create sneering horror faces, and the film ends with the central couple surrounded by sinister voyeurs. Objects take on a life of their own, liquefying bodies. Clothes are magically lost and regained. The mandolin becomes a stuttering machine gun; a tower of books collapses. A woman is caught in a spool of wool. An introvert plays occult games with matches.

Desistfilm is atypical Brakhage. It has a plot of sorts, and a soundtrack that creates meaning through interplay with the images, whereas most of the director's works are silent, heightening visual experience by depriving the other senses. Its focus on a social gathering contrasts with the solipsism of his later works, which may have been the result of working on this film, as Brakhage later confessed to his frustration at having to rely on collaborators

(http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/32/desistfilm.html)

導演介紹﹕

一九三三年出生於美國堪薩斯市的電影導演、前衛影響工作者─史坦‧布拉克哈格(Stan Brakhage)，經常被拿來和Maya Deren相 作比較。無非是因為史坦個人在電影影像創作上那疏離主流的前衛視覺風格，經常將做愛、嬰兒誕生與屍體解剖等一般人較不能忍受的影像直接表露於作品之中。而 他那些關乎於「生育、性和尋找上帝」的視覺概念也經常成為影迷們爭相探討的話題。史坦過去半個世紀共拍攝將近400部影片，其前衛作風對當代實驗短片的影 響甚深，可惜史坦於二ＯＯ三年三月因癌症過世，影迷們只能從他過去的作品中去緬懷這位大師的神采。