Watch Ballad of the Skeletons For Free

Good start, but then it gets ruined

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This roughly four-minute long short-film was shot by Academy-Award nominated director Gus van Sant shortly before famous poet Allen Ginsberg died. It's Ginsberg reciting a poem which included all kinds of American demographics summarized in one sentence for each group. It's more funny than meaningful obviously, but still there's a certain truth behind it most of the time. Also it looked like Ginsberg was having a great time. At the same time, we see images of people (Clinton, Gingrich etc.) and events with certain historic significance, mostly from American history, but also from abroad.It's an entertaining little piece and I think it's worth the watch. It may have started to drag if it had been 2-3 minutes longer, but this way it was just perfectly fine.

Having just seen this approximately four minute film on the big screen, I am awash in admiration. A close-up of Allen Ginsberg reciting his "skeletons" poem is bluescreened and dissolved against archival film and video clips, and backed by musicians to create a sort of song that becomes an American anthem. These clips predominantly feature images of the Dole/Clinton presidential campaign, but also include familiar and disturbing 1960s civil rights conflicts. The immediacy of Ginsberg looking and speaking full-on into the camera, to us, is striking and impossible to forget.What does it mean? I wish I could watch it again and decide. Surely Ginsberg and Van Sant have produced more meaningful work separately, but the combination with the music makes a brilliant whole. This is an extension of Van Sant's 1991 filmic version of William S. Burroughs' Thanksgiving poem, and the two short films are weird and poignant tributes to these great writers.