Drawing Restraint 9

last updated 8 January 2015

If you aren't already a fan of artist Matthew Barney, stop reading this review, said Sheila Farr in The Seattle Times. His latest film, in which he co-stars with his girlfriend, singer Bjork, won't convert you. In fact, it will probably 'œdrive you up a wall.' Like his previous Cremaster series, this feature unfolds in a 'œkaleidoscope of heart-stoppingly beautiful images.' But they don't hang together in any sort of traditional narrative. What passes for plot concerns a man and a woman who board a Japanese ship, said Philip Kennicott in The Washington Post. The ship sails, the man and woman meet and fall in love, and a chunk of ambergris is harpooned and dragged aboard. This somehow parallels the union of the couple, who ritualistically transform themselves into whales. Vaseline figures prominently. If that sounds like nonsense, 'œwelcome to the world of Matthew Barney.' Despite the sensational cinematography, the sheer length and tedium of Barney's works are proof both of storytelling incompetence and 'œa sadistic need to pin the audience down for penitential spans.' On the plus side, the film gives audiences plenty of time to write grocery lists, draft letters, and map out travel plans 'œfor the next 25 years,' said Jan Stuart in Newsday. And you've got to credit an artist who enables you to multitask in a theater and 'œstill leave his images rattling around your head like a maraca.'

Rating: Not Rated