I... Dreaming
| I... Dreaming | |
|---|---|
 A screenshot from I... Dreaming, showing the words "my heart" scratched directly onto the film emulsion | |
| Directed by | Stan Brakhage |
Release date | 1988 |
Running time | 8 minutes |
| Country | Template:Film US |
| Language | English |
I... Dreaming is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, released in 1988. The film features a soundtrack of Stephen Foster songs, compiled by composer Joel Haertling.[1]
Production
I... Dreaming was described by Brakhage as "extremely autobiographical," and was produced at one of the lowest points in his life.[2] Unlike most of the director's works, the film features a soundtrack.[3] Brakhage took a "collage" of Stephen Foster songs, compiled by composer Joel Haertling, and set it to music.[2] The soundtrack often "jumps" abruptly from one musical phrase or song to another.[3] Brakhage also scratched chosen song lyrics, such as "sweet spirit" and "see the dark void," directly onto the film emulsion.[3][4] The visuals interchange between images of Brakhage, appearing a weary old man, and the restless movements of his grandchildren.[3] Brakhage and the children never appear in the same shot.[3]
Reception
I... Dreaming' is often commented upon for its use of soundtrack, an atypical element in Brakhage's work.[3] The film has been likened to the director's earlier "trance films," such as The Way to Shadow Garden (1954) and Reflections on Black (1955), as well as the work of contemporaries Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger, and Gregory Markopoulos.[3] Malcolm Cook, writing for Senses of Cinema, described I... Dreaming as "an emotional experience."[3] R. Bruce Elder considered the film significant in Brakhage's oeuvre, in that it, alone among Brakhage’s work, challenges the idea of “mind as creating the world anew, with every passing moment, in a triumphant act of the imagination.”[4]
References
- ^ I... Dreaming Canyon Cinema: Film, Accessed 20 February, 2011
- ^ a b Commentary by Stan Brakhage on By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume 1, taken from 2002 interview with Bruce Kawin
- ^ a b c d e f g h "I... Dreaming" by Malcolm Cook Senses of Cinema, CTEQ Annotations, 26 July 2004 - accessed 20 February, 2011
- ^ a b Elder, R. Bruce (1998) The films of Stan Brakhage in the American tradition of Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and Charles Olson, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, p507