-----Original Message-----
From: Secret Cinema [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 April 2004 18:08
To: Secret Cinema
Subject: [secretcinema] Gregory Markopoulos, 16-21 April 2004
GREGORY J. MARKOPOULOS
Towards The Temenos: Myth, Portraiture and Films of Place
Gregory Markopoulos was the archetypal personal filmmaker: an accomplished
technician, masterful editor and consummate perfectionist, who created great
works of art with a minimum of means. A contemporary of Kenneth Anger, Stan
Brakhage and Maya Deren, he was a major figure of the New American Cinema,
the post-war movement that developed a new, visionary approach to film.
Markopoulos regarded cinema as "a supreme art in a dark age". His films
illuminate literature, portraiture and architecture, shaping a modern
mythology that owes more to European traditions of art-making than the
Hollywood culture of commercial cinema. As a formal innovator, he developed
rapid editing techniques which cut through time and space, shaping new
narrative forms through a "fusion of classic montage with a more abstract
system".
Such a progressive approach to cinema, and the belief in its ability to
convey thought and emotion, was grounded in an appreciation of early masters
such as von Stroheim and von Sternberg, and a strong, personal commitment to
developing the medium beyond its basic use in the narrative sense. Driven by
a purity of vision that transcended cinematic conventions, Markopoulos¹
sensual and poetic films shimmer with colour and resonate with passion.
This NFT retrospective, centred on key works of the 60s, is the first
opportunity in decades to see a selection of Markopoulos¹ work in the UK,
and shows the filmmaker during his most visible and influential period.
After moving to Europe in 1967, he withdrew all of his films from
distribution, citing frustration with inadequate projection facilities and
unappreciative audiences. Many subsequent films were completed but never
shown, as Markopoulos conceived of the Temenos as the ideal site for a
spectator¹s quest. In this chosen place, the films may elevate the
audience¹s sense of time while emotionally and physically connecting them to
the mythic themes and locations.
He died in 1992, shortly after final editing of the monumental Eniaios,
which comprises of 22 cycles totalling over 80 hours of viewing time. This
epic work combines radically re-edited versions of all his previous works,
and many unseen films, into a single, unified whole. Filmmaker Robert
Beavers has established the Temenos Association for the preservation, study
and promotion of Markopoulos¹ total vision, including his films, journals,
letters and collected writings. This NFT season precedes the premiere of the
first cycles of Eniaios, to be projected outdoors in the Greek countryside
in late June.
www.the-temenos.org
...
Fri 16 Apr 6.20 NFT2 (*); Sun 18 Apr 8.40 NFT2 (*)
LITERATURE AND MYTH
Two contemporary, personal interpretations of classical literature. In
Swain, an early psychodrama based on Nathaniel Hawthorne¹s novel OEFanshawe¹,
a young man flees from a woman who represents an oppressive sexual identity.
Twice A Man is a modern adaptation of the myth of Hippolytus, in which a
chaste youth rejects the advances of his mother and is saved from death by a
caring physician. This film demonstrates a great stylistic leap as
Markopoulos introduces single-frame montage and a more elliptical narrative
process.
SWAIN
USA 1950. With Gregory Markopoulos, Mary Zelles. 24 mins.
TWICE A MAN
USA 1963. With Paul Kilb, Olympia Dukakis, Albert Torgese. 49 mins.
Sat 17 Apr 6.20 NFT2 (*); Mon 19 Apr 8.40 NFT2
FILMS OF PLACE
Markopoulos created many impressions of buildings and places, making
in-camera dissolves and superimpositions without any subsequent editing.
Ming Green, a portrait of his humble apartment, painted the colour of the
title, was made shortly before his departure from New York, while Sorrows
was shot at the house in Switzerland built for Wagner by King Ludwig II.
Gammelion is a measured and romantic portrayal of an Italian castle,
extending seven minutes of photographed OEfilm phrases¹ with hundreds of
fades in and out.
MING GREEN
USA 1966. Music by Wagner. 7 mins.
GAMMELION
Italy 1968. Text by Rilke. Music by Roussel. 54 mins.
SORROWS
Switzerland 1969. Music by Beethoven. 6 mins.
Sat 17 Apr 8.40 NFT2 (*); Tue 20 Apr 6.20 NFT2
THE ILLIAC PASSION
Throughout his life, Markopoulos remained closely connected to his family
background, and ultimately saw the Greek landscape as the ideal setting for
viewing his films. The Illiac Passion, one of his most highly acclaimed
works, is a visionary interpretation of OEPrometheus Bound¹ starring mythical
beings from the 60s underground including Andy Warhol, Jack Smith and Taylor
Mead. The soundtrack of this contemporary re-imagining of the classical
realm features a reading of Thoreau¹s translation of the Aeschylus text and
excerpts from Bartók. The preceding film, Bliss, is a brief study of a
church on the island of Hydra.
BLISS
Greece 1967. 6 mins
THE ILLIAC PASSION
USA 1967. With Richard Beauvais, Clara Hoover, Andy Warhol. 92 mins.
Sun 18 Apr 6.20 NFT2 (*); Wed 21 Apr 6.20 NFT2
PORTRAITURE
Galaxie consists of thirty-three portraits of important figures from the art
world, including painters, poets, critics, filmmakers, and choreographers.
Each is shot with a single roll of 16mm film and though edited entirely
in-camera, often comprises of many layers of dense superimposition. The
subjects were invited to pose in their home, together with objects chosen by
them as symbolic extensions of their personality. Saint Actaeon is a
rhythmic portrait of historian and aesthete Sir Harold Acton, shot in the
gardens of his family villa.
GALAXIE
USA 1966. With WH Auden, Allen Ginsberg, Jasper Johns. 92 mins.
SAINT ACTAEON
Italy 1971. With Sir Harold Acton. 12 mins.
...
Markopoulos season curated by Mark Webber for NFT and LUX, in collaboration
with Temenos Association. Supported by Greece In London 2004 / The Hellenic
Foundation for Culture, UK. With thanks to Robert Beavers, Dr Victoria
Solomides and Österreichisches Filmmuseum.
(*) denotes screening will be introduced by Robert Beavers, filmmaker and
co-founder of Temenos
...
all screenings at
National Film Theatre
South Bank
London
SE1 8XT
Box Office 020 7928 3232
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