This review refers to the entire film DOG STAR MAN, the Prelude and the four Parts, which I saw several hours ago in the cinema of the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna.
IMDb should condense the five separate units into ONE film item, since this is clearly how the filmmaker intended his work to be viewed. I compose music and after about ten minutes it was clear to me that this work should be experienced and felt as VISUAL MUSIC, a symphony in five movements comparable in length to those of Bruckner or Mahler. I wouldn't have any problem closing my eyes during a 74-minute-long symphony and I had no problem turning off my ears as Stan Brakhage's stunning silent images flooded the screen.
The "visual composer" Brakhage showed himself to be a master in the incredible density of his phrases / images, in their imaginative and suggestive juxtapositions, and in the creation of a clearly imagined and personally experienced global form in five movements, whereby "themes" are introduced, developed, reintroduced and redeveloped in a convincing and existentially rooted manner. And there were SO many memorable images ... right now I'm recalling the man's vertical ascent at the end of Part One, and the introduction of the baby at the beginning of Part Two. The often fluttering editing of the winter scenes in the Colorado Rockies was so sensually intense that I could almost SMELL the surroundings-- an incredible feat for a silent film. The rough spots in the editing were like ... the rough spots in life.
I have seen several other films by Brakhage and admire his existentially demanding films abut birth and autopsy, but DOG STAR MAN tops it all.
My sincere posthumous thanks to Stan Brakhage for the 74 challenging, rewarding, and fulfilling minutes that I spent with this work.
