Kenneth Anger

Saturday, October 9, 2010.

"I make up notes of a film and about how long it will be, but the creative process is within me. I can't tell you how I do it because it is within me, clicking...make the audience work -- feed your mind into what you're actually seeing" - Kenneth Anger

(image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Anger)

   After my night of catching the talk by photographer, Bruce Davidson, I woke up with the horrible cold that was filtering through all of my fellow film students. Finding it difficult to even stand up, I knew I wasn't going to allow myself to miss Kenneth Anger in person. Hoped up on cold medicine, I lulled in and out of the jerking red line train motions and felt disoriented by the tunnels minimal passing light. My fever grew extremely high at this point as I sifted through the expected crowds on the Harvard stop. I met up with my long time friend Maddie and her boyfriend, who both go to Mass Art.

   When we finally reached the Harvard Film Archive building, I sat down feeling as if I was going to die. As if I wasn't already feeling loopy and disoriented enough, one of the most peculiar fellows sat in front of us. His mannerisms and actions were quirky to a point where it became alarming and he made us nervous. Random laughter and bits of anger came out of him, as he snapped at people sarcastically, and then wanted to be their best friend and talk about his one dollar stationary find. He was interesting to converse with. Even after I dropped a few well known photographers to somewhat relate to his conversation attempts, he hadn't heard of them, but informed me he knew a lot about photography. Odd. 

   To introduce Anger, the president of the Harvard Film Archives came out and explained how Anger had first started filming when he was a young teenager. His family brought a camera to Yosemite Park every year. He one day stumbled upon it and realized the film they had was going to expire before their next trip. He insisted on using the film...

    When Kenneth Anger finally came out, I felt this relief about the fact that I had trucked through my (what seemed like then) Plague. He was outspoken and interested in establishing a good vibe to his audience. He didn't preface his films much, which I always appreciate in artists. We were showed Scorpio Rising (1964), Kustom Kar Kommoandos (1965), Invocation of Demon Brother (1969), and Lucifer Rising (1970). His films were shown all weekend, but my schedule only permitted one night to catch him, and I made certain it was a night that he was speaking.


      The first of Anger's work that showed was Scorpio Rising: one of the first Anger films that I had seen. The colors were more magnificent as ever when they were projected on a big screen. Hesitant to sound naive: it's one film that the more I watch, the more inter weaved pieces become apparent.

 

(image provided by: http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010octdec/anger.html)

   Anger spoke about this film: he explained how in a film like Scorpio Rising, he wanted to use "real life people, not actors". He could thus film themselves, as they were. The people that are in this film "worked at a fish market, and then would put all of their money into their bikes...the Scorpio men [made it obvious that their priorities were] motorcycles first, girlfriends second". When Anger first approached them about the film, he said he wouldn't come right out and ask them to be photographed. This coincided nicely with the Bruce Davidson tips of never scaring a subject off: photography becoming a game. Anger instead asked if he could photograph their bikes to avoid getting shot down. The process then evolved into filming these men in their homes, around their material objects, and even using editing and shot scale to highlight a sense of homo eroticism. Later on, the main actor went around New York City telling everyone that he had made and was the director of the film, Scorpio Rising.

     Anger then explained his choice of using 1962 pop music for this film. He started off by admitting sound was not for him. He spoke of his love for pop music, which he claimed died when rap happened. Using well-known music doubled his budget as he had to pay about $8,000 for the music alone, but that price was a lot cheaper considering it was for a short film. Later on, he claimed how music is an art form that is most like how he works --"It's all instinctual!"

  The next Anger film to play was Kustom Kar Konmmanods. I had seen both of the first two films before, but it was interesting to see them juxtaposed to one another. There was a specific fascination between man and machinery. One may even label it as an obsession.

 

(image provided by: http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2010octdec/anger.html)   

    In Anger's talk, he jumped around from explaining his processes of specific technical aspects to his deeper analytical artistic intentions, and even to his personal past at times. He started explaining how Bobby Beausoliel did the music for Lucifer Rising. He revisited the fact that him and Bobby were together then and broke into parts of their relationship. Bobby was in a band called "Magic Power House of God". Bobby had asked Anger to lend him a bunch of money so that he could fund band necessities. One day, Bobby had come home with black plastic bags and laid them with his things. When he left, Anger found Bobby's White Alaskan dog, known by the name of Snow Fox, sniffing at the bags. Anger teared one open and found it to be filled with weed. This is before weed really broke out and started becoming more socially accepted, only criminals were the ones to be known with weed according to Anger. When Bobby returned, Anger was peeved and threw the keys at Bobby, " 'Take you fucking things and leave!'...and that's how we broke up". The crowd laughed as Anger, who had just gotten so floored telling this story cracked a smile. Anger then went on to state how Bobby is now serving a lifetime since he committed a murder on Charles Mansion's behalf: he had been tripping on acid for two straight weeks...Bobby sends him these fifteen page letters, seeing as there is not a lot to do in jail, and Anger answers on occasion with a postcard.         

 

 (image from Lucifer Rising)

   

    Anger was bombarded with many questions, some of which in my opinion were pretentious and vacuous. Finally after watching Anger grow somewhat annoyed by the questions and going on tangents and rambles to avoid satisfying an empty question, someone asked about his use of rituals in films. In one film, he had shots of Jesus-esque re-enactments and religious ceremonies. Anger laughed as he explained his strong belief in Serendipity. He had not intended to use any such footage, but one day a package ended up on his doorstep. He pried it open and it was footage that was supposed to go to a Lutheran Church a few streets over. "It was the wrong address, it was supposed to go to a Lutheran Church. So I took this as Sarendipity and put it in the film...[with] my finder's keeper's attitude, [I] guess it was supposed to be in the film". 

  

(image from Invocation of My Demon Brother)

   One member in the audience asked a question about how one of Anger's films made him feel. He verbally assumed and presented the idea that everyone felt the same reaction he did, Anger cut him off real fast with a "...if you're tuned in that way!" The man went silent, but then proceeded with his question. Anger then grew tired of answering questions, in my opinion because so many were almost insulting, and with a big smile said good bye to his audience. Anger filled with life, is a powerful character.