The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes

Last updated
The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Directed by Stan Brakhage
CinematographyStan Brakhage
Release date
1971
Running time
32 min.
CountryUnited States

The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes is a 1971 American film by Stan Brakhage. Its title is based on the literal translation of the term autopsy . The film documented the highly graphic autopsy procedures used by forensic pathologists, such as the removal of organs and the embalming process. [1]

Contents

The film is part of Brakhage's "Pittsburgh trilogy", [2] a trio of documentary films Brakhage made about the city's institutions in 1971. The other two films are entitled Eyes and Deus Ex. These documentaries are about the police force and a hospital, respectively. American critic Jonathan Rosenbaum referred to The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes as "one of the most direct confrontations with death ever recorded on film." [3]

Production

Brakhage shot the documentary using 16-millimetre film without synchronized sound during a visit to a morgue in Pittsburgh. [1] Brakhage used a number of different film stocks in the shooting process. [4]

Recognition

This film has been described as a study in observation and immersion, [5] with one critic deeming Brakhage as a "documentarian of subjectivity", who uses film techniques to "(give) form to his eyesight." This critic argues that the film's primary aim is to "sensitize each viewer to his own subjectivity". [6]

Some critics argued that the silent film style enables viewers to form their own interpretations and judgment on the subject matter. [5] Film critic Fred Camper described the film as "a curious, admittedly creepy, study of the varieties of light reflected off of skin, with luminous fluid appearing to dance with the camera". [6] In a Senses of Cinema profile of Brakhage, film-maker and curator Brian Frye wrote, "The key image of The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes is quite likely the bluntest statement on the human condition ever filmed. In the course of an autopsy, the skin around the scalp is slit with a scalpel, and in preparation for exposing and examining the brain, the face of each cadaver is literally peeled off, like a mask, revealing the raw meat beneath. That image, once seen, will never leave you." [2] Martin Smith describes the film as an act of mortality salience, a reminder of the inevitability of death and the joy of being alive. [4] These critiques highlight the shocking, innovative and humane nature of the film.

The Academy Film Archive preserved all three films in 2010. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dog Star Man</i> Series of short American experimental films

Dog Star Man is a series of short experimental films, all directed by Stan Brakhage, featuring Jane Wodening. It was released in instalments between 1961 and 1964 and comprises a prelude and four parts. In 1992, Dog Star Man was included in its entirety in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Brakhage</span> American filmmaker and writer (1933–2003)

James Stanley Brakhage was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film.

Sexual Meditation: Room with View is a 1971 American experimental film directed by Stan Brakhage. Shot on 16 mm film, the film explores the often blurry nature of gender roles in the copulatory ritual.

<i>The Bakery Girl of Monceau</i> 1962 film

The Bakery Girl of Monceau is a 1962 short film written and directed by Éric Rohmer. The film was the first of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales, which consisted of two shorts and four feature films.

<i>The Hart of London</i> 1970 Canadian film

The Hart of London is a 1970 experimental Canadian film directed by Jack Chambers. Stan Brakhage proclaimed it as "one of the greatest films ever made". The film is shown in black and white and colour, and includes found news footage from 1954, film shot by the artist years earlier in Spain, and film shot by the artist in London, Ontario.

<i>Mothlight</i> 1963 American film

Mothlight is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, released in 1963. The film was created without the use of a camera.

Philip Stewart Solomon was an American experimental filmmaker noted for his work with both film and video. In recent years, Solomon had earned acclaim for a series of films that incorporate machinima made using games from the Grand Theft Auto series. His films are often described as haunting and lyrical.

Over the course of more than five decades, the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage produced a large body of work. All films in the filmography are assumed to be silent, in color, and are meant to be shown at 24 frames per second, unless otherwise noted. The Brakhage films, comprising his edited originals, intermediate elements, and other original material, are housed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive, where a long-term project is underway to preserve and restore his entire film output.

The Arabic Numeral Series, sometimes referred to as the Arabics, is a series of 19 short 16mm films completed by the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage in 1981 and 1982. The Arabic Numeral Series gets its name from the fact that none of the films included in it have titles, instead opening with an arabic numeral. Brakhage produced another cycle, the Roman Numeral Series, whose films all have Roman numerals instead of titles, around the same time. All of the Arabics are silent and are intended to be projected at 18 frames per second.

Thigh Line Lyre Triangular is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, released in 1961, which depicts the birth of the director's third child, a daughter named Neowyn. The film, which involves painting and hand-scratching over photographic images, is more abstract than the director's earlier Window Water Baby Moving, which documented the birth of Brakhage's first-born, Myrrenna.

Eye Myth is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, produced in 1967. The film has a running time of only nine seconds, but took about a year to produce.

Cat's Cradle is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, produced in 1959. The film was described by Brakhage as "sexual witchcraft involving two couples and a 'medium' cat."

<i>The Dante Quartet</i> 1987 film by Stan Brakhage

The Dante Quartet is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, completed in 1987. The film was inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, and took six years to produce.

<i>The Garden of Earthly Delights</i> (1981 film) 1981 American film

The Garden of Earthly Delights is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, released in 1981. The film was partly inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s painting of the same name.

<i>I... Dreaming</i> 1988 American film

I... Dreaming is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, released in 1988. The film features a soundtrack of Stephen Foster songs, composed by Joel Haertling.

<i>Commingled Containers</i> 1997 American film

Commingled Containers is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, produced in 1997.

<i>Wings</i> (1966 film) 1966 film

Wings is a 1966 Soviet black and white drama film directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Larisa Shepitko, her first feature film made after graduating from the All-Russian State Institute for Cinematography. In 1979, the little known director, screenwriter and actress died in a car accident, leaving behind only a small artistic output of four films.

Sally Foy Dixon was an American arts administrator, curator, and advocate of American experimental film and filmmakers. She was a Film Curator at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 1975 and interim director of Film in the Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1978 to 1979. She also served as Director of the Bush Foundation for Artist Fellowships from 1980 to 1996 and was a consultant for the Pew Charitable Trusts, The MacArthur Foundation, the Herb Foundation, and the Leeway Foundation.

The End is a 1953 American short film directed by Christopher Maclaine. It tells the stories of six people on the last day of their lives. It premiered at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of Frank Stauffacher's Art in Cinema series. Though the film met audience disapproval at its premiere, it was praised by critics as a "masterpiece" and "a great work of art".

Sirius Remembered is a 1959 American experimental short film directed by Stan Brakhage. It captures the gradual decomposition of the corpse of Sirius, the Brakhage family's dog, over the course of several months.

References

  1. 1 2 IMDb entry
  2. 1 2 Senses of Cinema: Stan Brakhage Archived 2008-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Rosenbaum, Jonathan (26 October 1985). "The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes". Chicago Reader.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Martin (2017). "Mortality Salience: Terror of Death and The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes" (PDF). Film International. 15 (3). Intellect: 13–22. doi:10.1386/fiin.15.3.13_1.
  5. 1 2 Hall, Zack (March 10, 2008). "Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes". LAS magazine. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Camper, Fred (May 25, 2010). "By Brakhage: The Act of Seeing . . ". criterion.com. The Criterion Collection.
  7. "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.