CIRCUS SAVAGE Chapter I
EUTERPE
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1h 3m
At the close of the first decade of the 2000s, Lawrence Jordan wove together a vast river of image and sound from unused film material piled-up in his studio since 1952. In essence, this is his visual autobiography, including clips from strange and unusual appropriated footage, outtakes from many of his films as well as material from uncompleted projects.
The sound makes no attempt to comment on the picture but goes its own way: see a rose, hear a bomb. To Jordan, there is a wonderful counterpoint, continually bristling with surreal innuendo.
Chapter I of this magnum opus, comprising the first three reels and set to a boisterous collaged soundtrack, opens with sequences from Jean Cocteau's luminous BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) and then gradually gravitates to outtakes of SPECTRE MYSTAGOGIC (1957) with the multi-talented McClures—Joanna and Michael—before settling into footage from an assortment of uncompleted films over the decades that followed (with occasional reappearances by Joanna McClure, a constant presence throughout CIRCUS SAVAGE) and material derived of FINDS OF THE FORTNIGHT (1960 / 1980), a collaboration with the artist Jess Collins. The influence of mentor Joseph Cornell over this wondrous cascade of sound-and-vision is undeniable.
Up Next in EUTERPE
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CIRCUS SAVAGE Chapter II
At the close of the first decade of the 2000s, Lawrence Jordan wove together a vast river of image and sound from unused film material piled-up in his studio since 1952. In essence, this is his visual autobiography, including clips from strange and unusual appropriated footage, outtakes from many...
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CIRCUS SAVAGE Chapter III
At the close of the first decade of the 2000s, Lawrence Jordan wove together a vast river of image and sound from unused film material piled-up in his studio since 1952. In essence, this is his visual autobiography, including clips from strange and unusual appropriated footage, outtakes from many...
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CIRCUS SAVAGE Chapter IV
At the close of the first decade of the 2000s, Lawrence Jordan wove together a vast river of image and sound from unused film material piled-up in his studio since 1952. In essence, this is his visual autobiography, including clips from strange and unusual appropriated footage, outtakes from many...
