"One of the most imaginative and brilliant achievements in the history of
avant-garde cinema ... The first truly great piece of cinema to be made in a fine art context since Dali and Bunuel filmed Un Chien Andalou."
Jonathan Jones, The Guardian

"Cronenberg, Cocteau and Kubrick are among the artists Barney resembles —
along with early David Lynch and the Visconti of Ludwig ... To watch the
"Cremaster" films is to be seduced by the physical qualities of cinema." 
Mark Cousins, Sight and Sound

"One of the signal artists of our times ... A seven-hour long immersion in
one of the most dazzling imaginations any of us is likely to come up against
anytime soon." 
Sarah Milroy, Globe and Mail

NOVEMBER 4, 12-15

BY REQUEST! 35mm PRINTS! ► We’ve had numerous requests to bring back American art phenom Matthew Barney’s “The Cremaster Cycle” since we screened it last back in 2004. One of the most talked-about visual artists of our age, Barney (b. 1967) is known for a startling body of multi-media gallery work that has encompassed photography, performance, sculpture, libretti, drawing, video and, famously, rappelling — and Vaseline. His most celebrated achievement may be this epic, extravagant series of five films. Named for the male muscle that raises and lowers the testes in response to external stimuli, “The Cremaster Cycle” offers an extended, obsessive, mythopoetic exploration of creation, sexual differentiation, and masculinity that references, in mesmerizing, visually ravishing, often disorientating fashion, Busby Berkeley musicals, Celtic legends, the American horror film, Mormon texts, Masonic rites, gothic Westerns, Wagnerian spectacle, Oakland Raiders football, Harry Houdini, and high fashion.

Shot out of sequence — like the Stars Wars series, as critics are fond of noting — the films of “The Cremaster Cycle” were originally created as components of Barney’s gallery installations; due to intense interest, they were later made available for theatrical presentation in cinemas. Each film in the series can be enjoyed and appreciated as a stand-alone experience, and the parts need not be viewed in sequence. Together they stand as an amazing mega-opus — a strange and singular achievement that has been widely hailed in both film and visual art circles.

NOTE: Triple-Bill Marathon tickets are only available at the door.