tomorrow: the real cultural litmus test

[manny at telerama.com]

> I'm going with the "try it and see how I like it" approach. I saw some 
> Brakhage films when Filmmakers presented them without sound, and I'll 
> be checking them out again tonight with some improv musicians. Sure, 
> they were originally intended to be silent, but that isn't saying that 
> a soundtrack necessarily compromises the work. 

Seems more akin to 
> having a band play at an art gallery to draw people in and perhaps 
> improve their appreciation of the paintings. Or hell, it's even a lot 
> like Disney's Fantasia, except with fewer cloyingly cute animals in 
> tutus.

I'm not saying you shouldn't go.
I'm just telling you that Michael Johnsen (who knows his stuff) told me
that Brakhage not only did not *intend* his films to ever have sound,
he expressly stated his opposition to any of his films ever having
soundtracks of any sort, *many times*. It wasn't implied but clearly
stated.
Filmmakers, knowing this full well, has decided to willfully ignore the
express wishes of the artist in collaborating with Lee Ranaldo & Co in
this presentation. And we can no longer ask Brakhage for an updated
re-evaluation of this policy because he is no longer here. So it's
*not* like having a band play at an art gallery where the artist has
specifically selected the band to play, and comparing anything to Disney
doesn't help at all.

We know what Filmmakers' intention is in ignoring this fact: money.
It would at least behoove someone to ask Ranaldo & Co what their intention
is. If I do go, I fully intend to ask them just to see what they say.