Cremaster 2

viewed July 20, 2000 at the SFMOMA  Full Details

I had never heard of Matthew Barney before attending this screening with friends who spoke of him as if he were a household name.  Having been initiated in the Cremaster series, I can't quite see what makes him so distinguished.  This installment of the series meditates on Utah, The Beehive State (bees figure prominently throughout the film), making a connection between Harry Houdini and Utah serial killer Gary Gilmore.  There is no question that Barney has a clairvoyant preciseness to his imagery, and he evokes a dreamstate state convincingly, if not beautifully.  The overt machismo laden in many of the scenes and images limited the impact of Barney's brilliance on me.  The intense, bee swarm music gradually became deadening to my senses. The Houdini-Gilmore association seemed trivial, and, like many of the other elements of the film, seems to belie an utter silliness to the proceedings.  The far-out, breathtaking landscapes of Utah that Barney captures on film seem to be more exploited for their aura than incorporated into a thematic whole.  Nonetheless, I can't make these comments without feeling that there's something else going on that may escape my perception.  There is something to all this that is very fresh and original, defiantly original -- but I'd have to see another Barney film before I can speak confidently about what this guy is about. 

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