While nearly every Brakhage film is personal to some extent, few of them are personal in quite the same way as "For Marilyn". The title of the film directly tells the viewer that this film was made for Marilyn Brakhage, Stan's wife at the time, and through handpainted words and colorful visuals and the occasional flashing of footage of clean skies and mysterious windows, the film becomes an unusually touching tribute to the power of love and family. There is also a slight religious element when the words "Praise be to God" appear on screen, making me theorize that many of the colorful, handpainted flashing imagery in this film could be seen as a visual representation of Heaven or, more probably, of the soul's journey TO Heaven. Like almost every minor Brakhage film, "For Marilyn" can get fairly tedious at times even if it is only eleven minutes long, but for true fans of Brakhage it has enough bursts of beauty to provoke at least mild interest.
