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Lucifer Rising
Egyptian gods summon the angel Lucifer, in order to usher in a new occult age.
Release : | 1974 |
Rating : | 7.1 |
Studio : | NDR, Puck Film Productions, Vaughan Films, |
Crew : | Art Department Coordinator, Director of Photography, |
Cast : | Kenneth Anger Bobby Beausoleil Donald Cammell Marianne Faithfull Chris Jagger |
Genre : | Fantasy Horror |
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Did you people see the same film I saw?
A Masterpiece!
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
I think the most interesting about this short is the back story, which I highly recommend reading up on. For good or for worse, the back story alone makes this movie notable.When it comes to the movie itself, it's visually stunning and the music is brilliant. And that's about it. As an art flick, there's not meant to be an explicit storyline, so if you are not comfortable with that, this movie will probably not be very enjoyable as a "short" - but maybe as a music video of sorts. The previously mentioned music and visuals are good and match somewhat, so watching this is a good way to let your mind wander.If you are interested in the occult/spiritual world Anger taps into in his shorts, then you might get a kick out of this just for that. To me, that's less interesting. While I made an effort to connect the images with ideas and concepts that might lie behind them - I eventually lost interest and started following my own trains of thought.
Of all the shorts directed by Kenneth Anger, this has to be my favorite one.This was a way more ambitious work, filled with lots of complex symbolism and allegories, taking several elements from different mythologies in order to create something unique and incredibly fascinating.While in some ways, "Lucifer Rising" somewhat reminded me the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Particularly, "The Holy Mountain") there are still some notorious differences between those two artistic creations, being both very good and memorable movie watching experiences.In my opinion, this is a wonderful short, having a mysterious and captivating quality that makes it a timeless experience, impossible to forget.
If you are a friend of Kenneth Anger or are into ancient religions and the works of Aleister Crowley, then this film is for you. Or, if you've suffered a massive head injury or have done some LSD, then this film ALSO is for you. Otherwise, I just can't imagine anyone enjoying this very self-indulgent film.This film is inexplicable and according to Kenneth Anger's commentary track, it isn't up to the actors (and audience) to understand the meaning of the film--he understands it. The film consists of lots of ancient Egyptian gods walking about the desert, gods walking about ancient German ceremonial rocks, a lot of nudes and a final shot of a UFO flying over the ancient Egyptian ruins.As I watched this and listened to Anger's commentary, I was amazed that he was able to get a lot of people to get involved with this bizarre little art film/recruitment poster for the Aleister Crowley fan club. In fact, I watched all the films with the commentary track on and this is the only one in which I doubted the speaker's sanity. His talk about one person in the film being a living demon in human form (he was serious about this), the 911 conspiracy and his tales about UFOs was all rather disturbing...but also quite funny--making this very tedious and self-indulgent film a lot more enjoyable.
Far removed from the 'satanic panic' of 1969's Invocation of My Demon Brother, and closer to the imagery, motifs and ideas of his earlier short Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Lucifer Rising finds the infant terrible of the hippie counterculture once again dabbling in the occult, the mystical and the mythological, only this time, with a clear, focused and assured approach. Gone are the frantic superimpositions and chaotic editing. Lucifer Rising is for the most part cleanly edited, more refined in the selection of images and more carefully constructed than its predecessors. It sees Anger harnessing his delirious side in the service of a certain film-making finesse, without losing any of his symbolic potency. What other proof is there that this is Anger at his most professional when he even uses tracking shots in some instances! What next, professional actors? A Crowley-esquire view of ancient Egypt then, with Lucifer as the bringer of Light, touching themes of death and rebirth, Lucifer Rising may lack the visceral, hypnotic madness of its predecessor but makes up for it with an air of spellbinding psychedelia.