I had a memorable, if not historic night, at tonight’s monthly Queer/Art/Film event at IFC put on by Butt magazine’s Adam Baran & Ira Sachs. I really wanted to see this man in real life- especially after seeing Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus, and having met and done a portrait of Bruce Benderson for EastVillageBoys who worked on putting the Taschen book together of Bidgood’s photography, I really wanted to see this man in real life. What happens at this monthly event is a queer director presents a film that has inspired them, and does a short q&a afterward about their own work and how the film influenced them.

The Thief of Bagdad had beautiful color, and fantastical imagery and set design that doesn’t appear in movies today. Bidgood argues that this is a result of overinformation, so we are left with facts which while intended to be enlightening can also confine ones mind from wild and beautiful imaginations that might otherwise exist. We know what the middle east (Arabia) looks like now, and most places of the world.. so there’s less wonderment of that magical place far away from here where tall tales grow.

Our standards of cinema have also changed, seeing the special effects when the movie was first released were unlike anything people had seen, and thus very believable.. where our eyes now have adapted to different standards and seeing it today looks a bit more artificial but still as enjoyable.

Bidgood is one sure quirky guy.. very entertaining. It was inspiring in a way to hear from a guy who’s been at it for so long and though beaten down time and again- and dirt poor, hasn’t given up. What screw is loose that I don’t have that kind of resolve?

If you don’t know the story of the making of Pink Narcissus.. here is the introduction of Bidgood’d interview with BUTT Magazine:

“It was a hot June morning in New York when after a long hike up an endless flight of stairs, I met the photographer and filmmaker James Bidgood. Famous for his ethereal photography of beautiful young men in the 1960s, James Bidgood directed, produced and wrote the iconic 1971 film Pink Narcissus, starring Bobby Kendall. Nearly all of the film was shot in Mr. Bidgood’s Hell’s Kitchen apartment between 1963 and 1971 where he lived within the sets he built. Before the film reached completion, it was taken from him by investors and edited without his involvement, creating something Bidgood says he couldn’t even follow himself or stay awake through. Devastated after having spent the past seven years of his life making the film, he refused to sign his name to the project and for years it was credited to ‘Anonymous’, which led many to think that perhaps Andy Warhol was behind it. When I arrived at his apartment, Mr. Bidgood asked the first question.”
—[Read full interview here]

Here’s what’s coming up next:
IFC Queer/Art/Film Schedule

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Welcome to the dream world. One of my best friends turned me onto Sergei Parajanov. We had watched The Legend of Suram Fortress & Ashik Kerib. I was completely speechless and in shock on the first viewing. It hit really far inside my sub/unconscious.

The Color Of Pomegranates is probably Parajanov’s most known film. It’s currently playing at Anthology Film Archive in the East Village
Wednesday July 14, 2010 at 9:15pm & Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 7:15pm

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/calendar?view=list&month=07&year=2010#showing-36101

Film Notes from Anthology’s website:

The powerful words of 17th-century poet Arutuin Sayadian, also known as “Sayat Nova” (“King of Siam”) are magnificently captured in this visual pastiche which is both a stylized biography and a tribute to his work. Charted into eight sections of his life from childhood to death, the film is a series of symbolically rich, almost hallucinatory scenes. This baroque masterpiece was banned in the Soviet Union for its religious sentiment and nonconformity to “Socialist realism.” Paradjanov, a tirelessly outspoken campaigner for human rights, was convicted on a number of trumped-up charges and sentenced to five years of hard labor in the gulag. A wave of protest from the international film community led to his release in 1978.

Watch below via google video:

Additional info from Kino.com:

The Legend Of Suram Fortress
Director: Sergei Paradjanov
Country: Russia | USSR
Year: 1985
Paradjanov’s first film after more than a decade of persecution and imprisonment is based on an ancient Georgian legend about unrequitted love. Armenia. 1985. 78 mins. Color. Georgian w/English Subtitles.

(The Legend of Suram Fortress) – Based on an ancient legend, this dazzling film by visionary director Sergei Paradjanov (Shadows Of Our Forgotten Ancestors) is a surreal ode to Georgian warriors throughout the ages who died for their country. Repeated efforts by the Georgian people to construct a defensive stronghold continually fail. The building collapses until a fortune teller remembers an old prophecy that the son of her erstwhile lover must be bricked up alive in order for the fortress to stand. The young man is faced with the prospect of sacrificing himself to save his country.
Ashik Kerib
Director: Sergei Paradjanov
Country: Russia | USSR
Year: 1988
This shimmering spectacle resembles a medieval manuscript brought to life in its tale of a wandering minstrel in search of his lost love. Armenia. 1988. 78 mins. Color. Russian w/ English subtitles.

(Ashik Kerib) – From Sergei Paradjanov (The Legend of Suram Fortress, Shadows Of Our Forgotten Ancestors) one of the most acclaimed experimental directors of the Soviet cinema, comes Ashik Kerib, a 19th Century romantic tale evocatively brought to life.

In recounting Lermontov’s fable of a wandering minstrel trying to earn enough money to marry the girl he loves, Paradjanov dispenses with conventional storytelling devices in order to present a boldly unique cinematic experience. Glorious tableaux, exquisitely composed, choreographed and photographed, are combined with intertitles, images of early Russian artwork and a haunting blend of traditional and contemporary musical forms, to create an enthralling and utterly unforgettable film.

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My Reviews:

LOVE:
Johnny Guitar (1954) is *SO GOOD*! It’s funny, it’s complete, it’s a western to watch! Starring Joan Crawford
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) is *SO GOOD* on the big screen. I’d seen it once or twice before on television, but this viewing.. I forgot I was in a theatre and the screen became reality. Perhaps it was motivated partially by me being from LA and the sights vaguely familiar.
Bigger Than Life (1956) is *SO GOOD* as an early psychological thriller.

GOOD:
In a Lonely Place (1950). With Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
Knock on Any Door (1949) “Live fast, die young,and leave a good-looking corpse”. Also a social study on the influence of environment on development.
The Lusty Men (1952). Life on the Rodeo. With Susan Hayward.

OK: The True Story of Jesse James (1957)

Not so good: They Live By Night (1949).

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My video cam was low on batts so I just took one shot. I can’t wait until Ken sends me our pics from that night.. think giant playpen for adults. It was also unexpected fun running into Haans.

You see those hanging sacks? They’re filled with spices/herbs.. very strong/semi-fragrant. There were probably a hundred or so of those of varying sizes throughout the installation… enough to deter me from going into certain areas due to uncontrollable a-chu’s. As part of that theme, all the drinks were made with unusual spices.

One of which was Brazilian Sechuan Buttons, a distinct flower which when eaten (I’m not sure if we were even supposed to chew them plain like I did) at first tastes like plant, slowly developing into an electrifying/numbing sourness.. as if you had mint toothpaste on your mouth you couldn’t get off, *meh*. Pretty crazy.. they used them in the caipahrina’s.

-For more reading-

• NY Times Article
• Wikipedia: Ernesto Neto

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Me sitting and watching.

On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, X will present an extensive survey of the work of Derek Jarman, one of the most radical figures of British independent cinema. The exhibition will feature 18 super-8 mm films rarely seen in the US.

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