A good comparison to what Brakhage is to film would be what Gerhard Richter is to painting. Here is a man that over a whole career has created not only an extensive body of work, but also an immensely diverse range of films. To choose whether to look at either the photographic or painted works is a somewhat difficult task, as when you begin to read more into the ways in which Brakhage discusses his work, there inevitably isn’t much of a difference. These deep thoughts on life and death, that seem to play a big role in all of his films, are what give the work its richness and create an underlying current throughout, what seems like most of his films. Because of this, Brakhage’s films demand that you view them more than once and out of these films comes the true sense of ‘experimental film’.
Looking purely at the role of aesthetics and style within these films, there is a distinct difference between two strands of his work. On one side we have the very intimate photographic works with the likes of Window, Water, Baby moving and on the other side we have the more abstracted works in the likes of Rage Net. Aesthetically, both of these films are completely different, neither of the pieces could be connected on a purely visual sense, yet when Brakhage discusses the reasons being making these films, essentially they are not that different at all. Both films deal with raw human emotion, dealing with love, or indeed rage towards another human being. To this, we could therefore ask whether or not you can truly separate these pieces as being totally independent of one another, as each deals with the idea of capturing, or indeed documenting, a type of human emotion that is unquantifiable. It often feels as though Brakhage is perhaps frustrated within his own thoughts and that filmmaking happened to be the best outlet to express this. If we compare this to the vehicles that drive Kenneth Anger’s films, both directors are quite similar as they adopt a way of working similar to what was being down within the Romantic Movement. They work with the romantic notion that
However, based purely on personal preference I initially felt draw towards the photographic pieces. When first viewing Window Water Baby Moving the viewer can’t help but appreciate the intensity that Brakhage must be feeling. We are faced with not a linear narrative but
Here is a man that is not afraid that admit that he uses art as a way to document those very close to him.
On the other hand I would like to point out that in no way to I believe that Brakhage’s work only exists purely through his personal thoughts and doesn’t fully consider film making technically. The fact that Brakhage spent a number of years lecturing in Colorado university tells us that he was fully aware of the theoretical and professional practices within film making. Looking specifically at the
Brakhage is a man that uses the act of film making to its true potential; he is completely removed from the restraints of everyday Hollywood film.
