Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)

Review: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)

Director: William Greaves

Cast: Patricia Ree Gilbert , Don Fellows, Jonathan Gordon, William Greaves, Susan Anspach,

Patricia Ree Gilbert
Patricia Ree Gilbert
Don Fellows
Don Fellows
Jonathan Gordon
Jonathan Gordon
William Greaves
William Greaves
Susan Anspach
Susan Anspach

Plot: In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot the exchange, and another camera records Greaves and his crew. Sometimes we watch the crew discussing this scene, its language, and the process of making a movie. Is there such a thing as natural language? Are all things related to sex? The camera records distractions - a woman rides horseback past them; a garrulous homeless vet who sleeps in the park chats them up. What's the nature of making a movie?

Read More

Seeking cinematic truth: two new Criterion Blu-rays

Seeking cinematic truth: two new Criterion Blu-rays

Two new releases from the Criterion Collection showcase very different approaches to filmmaking. Robert Bresson’s Mouchette (1967) and William Greaves’ Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes (1968/2005), although both made during the […]

Read More