No. 18: Mahagonny
Harry Smith’s final film; an epic four-screen projection. Smith worked on this cinematic transformation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1929) for over ten years and considered it his magnum opus. The film was shot from 1970 to 1972 and edited for the next eight years. The “program” of the film is meticulous, with a complex structure and order. The Weill opera is transformed into a numerological and symbolic system. Images in the film are divided into categories— portraits, animation, symbols and nature— to form the palindrome P.A.S.A.N.A.S.A.P. The film contains invaluable cameos of important avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Jonas Mekas, intercut with installation pieces from Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith’s visionary animation.
Release Date
September 13, 1980Runtime
141 minGenres
DramaDirected by
Harry SmithWritten by
Bertolt BrechtLanguage
EnglishBudget
$0Revenue
$0Status
Released![](/assets/movie1-02.jpg)
Cast
Similar movies
![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/iCJAKJYknJ57LtKATjam8ZkB3Op.jpg)
Mahagonny
February 9, 1974![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/9dzmnZCqzIrCISvaWyJUdsjVlJo.jpg)
Greenfingers
June 28, 2022Marianne
July 4, 2013![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/bgv4NQHOjeSWxKG0BKIHdHI03km.jpg)
Measure Taken
January 1, 1984![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/16tGYSljgWCCHcn5b2nJdgIip1i.jpg)
Nightcrawlers
August 25, 2019![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/7VTlawg3LZF2ePFeF0JFWshiClg.jpg)
Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui
January 13, 1974![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mpXeWf4dvUYb5t8zayX68o7jfZx.jpg)
The Jewish Cardinal
January 24, 2013![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/wBSRF5seMpuZpUGwOj2JNMT4dGD.jpg)
Fun and Games
May 25, 1980![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/yLrnJgbPDYQ0HjEKgh845HrRzsn.jpg)
Moonlight
September 14, 1982![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/lpcT8LmNaV71BV2uGcF5rozqLAz.jpg)
Deadly Impact
May 17, 1984I Love N.Y.
May 4, 1987While Justice Sleeps
December 5, 1994![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mVXLX4ojpOgmGOhNdxXfnsW0cXU.jpg)
The O.J. Simpson Story
January 31, 1995![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/3yhuWixdc2oDPI4rFX8KVGYcNeY.jpg)
When Unku was Ede's Girlfriend
April 3, 1981![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/sTvm8uNhRkFCmjmCRnihgFRUF9X.jpg)
Xanda
January 1, 2004![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/8N1PYkU26SZUFEDAdLAK6d9P2Xe.jpg)
Crosshairs
May 13, 2013Full Time
October 17, 2013![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mxgAsqknOMYe8DPiqeOcFJVna3P.jpg)
The Phone Call
October 20, 2013Threshold
August 15, 2012![](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/k4jJ4RaeGiNp8jI8THstHok7sS2.jpg)
Pieces
October 17, 2013