Stan Brakhage
Stan Brakhage is one of the most influential filmmakers in American avant-garde cinema, noted for his unflinching social commentaries and technical innovations. Over his nearly 40-year career, he has made over 200 films of varying length. He made his first film, Interim (1952) at age 18 after dropping out of college. Brakhage films seek to change the way we see. They encourage viewers to eschew traditional narrative structure in favor of pure visual perception that is not reliant on naming what is seen; rather his goal is to create a more visceral visual experience, for he believes that a "stream-of visual-consciousness could be nothing less than the pathway of the soul." To this end, his films are shot in highly sensual colors and utilize minimal soundtracks. His work can be divided into distinct periods. His first short films explored the properties and possibilities of light. In many of his experimental ventures, Brakhage has forgone traditional cinematography in favor of working directly with the film stock itself. He has occasionally painted, inked, scratched and dyed images onto it; he has also tried pasting organic objects on the film. His most famous example is the 1963 short Mothlight in which he glued moth wings onto the stock. Some of his early films were based on his most intimate experiences that included making love to his new bride--depicted on negative film--in Wedlock House: An Intercourse (1959), and an attempt to bring his dead dog back to life with a camera in Sirius Remembered (1959). During the 1960s, Brakhage's iconoclastic views were celebrated for their poetry, but during the '70s, his focus changed to social issues and he alienated many supporters with such disturbing film series as the "Pittsburgh documents" in which he presented many gruesome views of inner city life with films such as Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (1971) which was shot in a morgue. He also continued with autobiographical material with the "Sincerity/Duplicity series. During the 1980s, Brakhage's focus again changed--this time he became intrigued with creating truly "abstract" films such as Arabics (1982) which consists of brilliant bursts of colored light which he claims, represent "envisioned music." In addition to filmmaking, Brakhage also wrote books about films and filmmaking and also served as a teacher.
Known for
DirectingBirthday
January 14, 1933Deathday
March 9, 2003Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
442Place of birth
Kansas City, Missouri, USAAlso known as
James Stanley Brakhage, 스탠 브래키지, スタン・ブラッケージ, 斯坦·布拉哈格, Стэн Брэкидж, სტენ ბრეკიჯიCast credits
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
HimselfCat's Cradle
SelfWindow Water Baby Moving
Self (uncredited)Dog Star Man: Part IV
Flesh of Morning
Trumpit
Garden Path
Cannibal! The Musical
Noon Sr.Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
SelfThe Extraordinary Child
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Birth of a Nation
SelfI... Dreaming
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
SelfSong 1
The Stars Are Beautiful
Narrator (voice)Faust's Other: An Idyll
Crew credits
Dog Star Man: Part I
DirectorDelicacies of Molten Horror Synapse
DirectorThe Art of Vision
Director, Editor, Cinematography, ProducerCat's Cradle
DirectorWindow Water Baby Moving
Director, Editor, Director of PhotographyMothlight
DirectorEye Myth
DirectorThe Wold Shadow
DirectorScenes from Under Childhood, Section One
DirectorGlaze of Cathexis
DirectorFaust's Other: An Idyll
DirectorStudy in Color and Black and White
DirectorDesistfilm
Director, Cinematography, Editor, WriterWedlock House: An Intercourse
DirectorThe Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Director, Director of Photography, EditorThe Stars Are Beautiful
Director, Cinematography, Editor, WriterThe Garden of Earthly Delights
DirectorKindering
DirectorI... Dreaming
DirectorThe Dante Quartet
DirectorNight Music
Director