The Cremaster Cycle (2002)
Also known as "'Cremaster 1' (PG); 'Cremaster 2' (18); 'Cremaster 3' (15); 'Cremaster 4' (12A); 'Cremaster 5' (12)"
A work of rare beauty and great wonder
Starring: 'Cremaster 1': Marti Domination, Gemma Boudon Smith, Kathleen Crepeau, Nina Kotov, Jessica Sherwood, Tanyth Berkeley, Miranda Brooks, Keri McKahan, Catherine Mulchahy, Anne Bannert, Juliette Vassilkio; 'Cremaster 2': Norman Mailer, Matthew Barney, Lauren Pine, Scott Ewalt, Patty Griffin, Michael Thomson, Dave Lombardo, Bruce Steele, Steve Tucker, Cat Kubic, Sam Jalahej; 'Cremaster 3': Richard Serra, Matthew Barney, Aimee Mullins, Paul Brady, Terry Gillespie, Mike Bocchatti, David Edward Campbell, James Pantoleon, Jim Tooey, Nesrin Karenouh, Peter D. Badalamenti, the Mighty Biggs; 'Cremaster 4': Matthew Barney, Dave Molyneux, Graham Molyneux, Steve Sinnot, Karl Sinnot, Sharon Marvel, Colette Guimond, Christa Bauch, John Stud Jr.; 'Cremaster 5': Matthew Barney, Ursula Andress, Joanne Rha, Susan Rha, Amy Chiang, Mei-Chiao Chiu, Michelle Ingkavet, Yoko Kuroiwa, Kim Nghiem
Director: Matthew Barney
Running Time: 396 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Drama, Musical, Arthouse
The word 'cremaster' denotes either the muscle which suspends the testicles, or else the appendage which suspends an insect's pupa. Matthew Barney's 'The Cremaster Cycle' is a series of five art films, each with its own distinctive visual style and setting, but all linked by common themes of sexuality, transformation, transcendence, and the suspension of clearly differentiated categories. Apart from making films (and going out with Björk), Barney is a sculptor renowned for working in plastics and vaseline, and all five parts of 'The Cremaster Cycle' feature his artwork.
In 'Cremaster 1' (1995, 41min), on the blue astroturf of a football stadium, a troupe of elaborately costumed women dance in formation, while two Goodyear blimps hover overhead, attached to the lead dancer by long cords, like testicles or perhaps ovaries. Aboard the blimps, a woman (Marti Domination) crouched beneath a table creates patterns for the dance formations below (which vaguely resemble sexual organs) using grapes which she draws down through a hole in the table-cloth.
'Cremaster 2' (1999, 79min) first deals with the 1977 execution of Gary Gilmore (played by Barney, with prosthetically reduced penis), figured as a rodeo ride to the death, and then shifts to the 1893 seduction by Gilmore's grandmother of Harry Houdini (Noman Mailer, whose book 'The Executioner's Song' is about Gilmore). Along the way, there is a séance, two 1966 Mustangs umbilically conjoined, and Dave Lombardo (formerly of 'Slayer') performing a drum solo accompanied by droning bees.
'Cremaster 3' (2002, 179min) focusses on the erection of New York's Chrysler building, and uses imagery from Masonic ritual to show a mystic battle of wills between the ascending Apprentice (played by Barney) and the Architect - coloured by all manner of bizarre episodes and digressions (giants at Fingal's cave, rotting horses in a harness race, car demolition in the Chrysler lobby, elevator cables used as a harp, etc.). This, the longest and most recent of 'the Cremaster Cycle', is also Barney's crowning masterpiece.
'Cremaster 4' (1994, 42min) concerns a tap-dancing satyr who tunnels from one side of the Isle of Man to the other, while two motorcycles with sidecars race in opposite directions (and a testicle emerges from each driver's pocket and slides along the motorcycle's frame).
'Cremaster 5' (1997, 55min) takes the form of a lyric opera, and is largely set in the Hungarian State Opera House, where the Queen of Chains (Ursula Andress), surrounded by tethered pidgeons, watches both the diva onstage, and a giant with some sprites in the baths below, while reflecting upon her magician who leapt suicidally into the Danube, only to be rescued by sprites. This final 'Cremaster' film is the most static of the series, and will appeal most to fans of opera.
Normally film-based art projects like this, with their lack of any conventional narrative and their sometimes impenetrable symbolism, are confined to screenings in obscure galleries, so filmgoers who have curiosity and a degree of patience should jump at the opportunity to see all six and a half hours of 'The Cremaster Cycle' while it is on general release in multiplexes. These films have a magisterial sense of scale which is best appreciated on the big screen, and the uniquely intense beauty of their design will transform any cinema screen into a wall on which twenty-five wondrously inventive and surreal paintings hang each second. Or some may think it is just a bunch of balls.
It's Got: The (literal) flogging of dead horses, novel uses for grapes in blimps' waiting rooms, impractical yet aesthetically pleasing methods of cutting potatoes, the wet dreams of pidgeon fanciers, Manx porcine satyrs and fairies, giants fighting at Fingal's cave, a car crushed to the size of (and used as) a set of dentures - what more do you want?
It Needs: To be viewed with a great deal of patience.
Alternatives: 'Holy Mountain', 'The Tulse Luper Suitcases', The Early Films of Peter Greenaway 1, 'The Early Films of Peter Greenaway 2'
Summary: While definitely not your average night out at the cinema, Matthew Barney's five-part 'Cremaster Cycle' is a work of rare beauty and great wonder, making a unique viewing experience that is not easily forgotten - although be warned that less patient viewers may find that it is not fondly remembered either.
Review Date: 20th October 2003
External Links
Official Web Site
The Cremaster Cycle at the IMDB
Comments16 Comments |
| where the hell is the DVD set that was scheduled for release LAST YEAR? The Order won't sustain me forever!!!! |
| Comment by:- S. Dingle | eetk.com | 05 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| we want the boxset!!!!!!!!! |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| please please pleeeeeaase release the dvd set! (please) |
| Comment by:- superdude | | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| super duper release these amasing films on dvd pronto! |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| WE WANT THE CREMASTER CYCLE ON DVD!!! |
| Comment by:- bobby peru (like the country) | | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| CREEEEEEEEEMMMAAAAAAASSTERRRRRRRRR CYCLE ON DVD NOW! |
| Comment by:- slick rick | | 27 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| PLEASE release the cremaster cycle on dvd...The order is not enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Comment by:- doudou lau | | 11 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| i'm looking for the cremaster cycle on dvd for years..! s'il-vous-plait, quand est-ce qu'on pourra enfin l'acheter ? |
| Comment by:- tania | | 29 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| CREMASTER DVD BOXSET NOW!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAA THE ORDER CANNOT SUSTAIN MY CREMASTER LONGING FOREVER!!! |
| Comment by:- Fred (LOVER OF MATTHEW BARNEY + BJORK) | | 06 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| What's taking them so long to release this DVD box set? |
| Comment by:- ed | | 07 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| cremaster 3, for me is a real master work , maybe the best movie i have ever seen & i am not afraid to say that.AMAZING !!!!! |
| Comment by:- sergio | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| CREMASTER 3 IS STRONG & UNUSUAL AS SOME DAVID LYNCH, LUIS BUNUEL, STANLEY KUBRIK, DAVID CRONENEBERG OR DARIO ARGENTO MOVIE BUT MUCH BETTER AND MUCH AMAZING !!! THE MOST WONDERFUL MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN !!! AND IT DOESN'T EXIST ON DVD !!! IT IS A SHAME NO ONE CAN SEE THIS MOVIE !!! IT MEANS THE DEATH OF ART, OF EXPRESSION, OF FREEDOM !!! EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEE THIS MOVIE LIKE EVRYONE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DREAM ... |
| Comment by:- Sergio | | 12 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| The Cremaster Cycle will be released in a limited number this March and for over US$300 a pop! |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 20 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| The Cremaster Cycle will be released in a limited number this March and for over US$300 a pop! Can you corroborate this, perhaps with a link? More information would be greatly appreciated (publisher, press release, pre-order information, etc.). |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 20 October 2004 | ip: logged |
| HEY!!!! CHECK THIS OUT! THIS GUY CAN GET YOU DVD-R OF EACH FILM 1-5 ...6 discs total(3 is split at the intermission point)...digital source...WITH MENUS EVEN......NICE!!! find him here... ghostofme@hotmail.com |
| Comment by:- Anonymous | | 07 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| Likewise, if someone has info on the entire Cremaster set being released, I'd like to see a link or something confirming... |
| Comment by:- Greg Smith | | 08 November 2004 | ip: logged |
