The Machine of Eden

"The Machine of Eden" makes for interesting and slightly uncomfortable viewing, and is frontended with shots of a kind of mechanism which remains shrouded and unlcear. The film resolves into a sequence of images that meditate on the titular conception of Eden, and -- to this viewer -- bring to the fore the interplay of sources of motion itself in the film: virtually every shot involves a competition between motion that comes from one or more of several sources, whether it be from mechanistic or natural elements in the frame (snow blowing in the wind), adjustment of the zoom on the camera being used (drawing attention to the mechanism of filmmaking itself as this short film does -- possibly alluded to in the title), physical manipulation of the camera, motion of a conveyance the camera is on, or intentional manipulation of objects being recorded.

In that way the film becomes a kind of meditation on motion, change, and film itself, which alludes obliquely to the elements suggested by the title. The question, perhaps, is whether the camera itself ever can be a machine of Eden?

Dominated by shots of nature, stark but beautiful skies, mountains, tress, but always being interrupted by zooms and shaky camera-work, I assume to point out the camera is a flawed 'machine of Eden' that can only approximate the true beauty of the world.

There are also shots of Brakhage's family, discomfortingly short, mostly framing to cut off their heads or obscure their faces.. Not sure what that means.

Enough striking images to make me frustrated that Brakhage refused to break out of his obsession with moving the camera and making us aware of it. But as often the case with Brakhage, I'm glad I saw it, even while being frustrated.

After the pretty yet somewhat disappointing short "Scenes from Under Childhood, Section One", "The Machine of Eden" provided a slight relief for me. It did not feel nearly as tedious, although I did have my blacking-out-while-watching-a-movie moments at times. I really liked the locations and techniques Brakhage used in this film, even if at times they get slightly repetitive. It's an overall very beautiful and poetic experience. In some strange way, many of the more poetic Brakhage films feel like a religious experience (and it's impossible for me not to mention that this very film has a religion-referencing title), they feel Heavenly, and others even feel like a trip to Hell (for example: "The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes" and "The Dante Quartet").

This is definitely an impressive and visually stunning effort by Brakhage that will certainly please fans of poetic and beautiful imagery.