Kustom Kar Kommandos

Oh, how I enjoy the time I think back at those memories of Kenneth Anger's films, especially his 'Magick Lantern Cycle'. Kustom Kar Kommandos is undoubtly of great importance for later directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.

Later of great importance, the whole carscene is about nothing else but a guy who really adores his own car. So much that he cherishes his vehicle while washing it. There isn't very much I can say about it, it's simply perfect. If you haven't seen this short feature, you can't exactly know what you're talking about when you say you love those satiric car moments in films of Scorsese and company.

It's more in it's place thanks to the great soundtrack: the Paris Sisters sing 'Dream Lover', and then you see images of a guy (named Sandy Trent?!) who's fascinated by his "dream" and becomes the "lover". Hence, "Dream Lover".

I like Angers short films, especially Scorpio Rising (it became my favourite movie ever seen since), but my second favourite is surely this almost unbeatable work of art, 'Kustom Kar Kommandos'.

Whole film is about 3 minutes long. We see a buff guy shining up his beautiful 50s style car while a great 50s song plays on the soundtrack. That's about it, but it's quick, has beautiful color and is just a fun little short! Worth seeing.

What a refreshing contrast to Anger's normal output -- this is short, to the point, simple, and under control. No pretentiousness, and competent technical qualities, for a change. It's not about anything of importance, just fetishism for the bodies of cars and of young men, but for once Anger masters his form and puts it to the service of his small idea. A mini-delight.

First of all, this is a movie Kenneth Anger never finished. Its only 1/8 of what he planned, so its probably difficult to give it a fair judgment as a whole. First time I saw it, I didn't get it at all. Its a three minute short movie about a very 'gay' looking man caressing his expensive car. Very visual, and nice colors.. but thats it! He uses a powder puff to brush the shiny car.

What Anger wanted to do with this movie was to make us think about the growing bubblegum-mentality in youngsters of America. The teenage of California in a world of hot-rod and customized cars. How crazy it is. How our standards as humans in some circumstances are far above anything normal.

I thought it was an interesting project and I'm sad he never found people to support it financially to complete it.

This is from the second DVD of a set called "The Films of Kenneth Anger"--a collection of avant garde films by this odd film maker. I found the first disk to be more satisfying--the second has a lot about Aleister Crowley and Satanism that I found a bit dreary.

KUSTOM KAR KOMMANDOS is about the closest you'll come to making love to a hot rod! Kenneth Anger met a guy with a beautiful custom-detailed hot rod and got him to agree to having the car and himself filmed. There is no dialog, just a slowly moving camera with deliberately intense colors. It's like a love song or poem all about the beauty and lines of the car and is the sort of film that hot rod enthusiasts might love. Otherwise, most will see it as a reasonably short and pleasant stroll down memory lane--but not a must-see film.