Dirty
d. Stephen Dwoskin, 1971
Stephen Dwoskin's Dirty is anything but. In fact, it's closer to the melancholy longing of Chris Marker's La jetee (1962) than the eroticism of Jean Genet's Un chant d'amour (1950), though both films have a certain influence over this one. Unlike Genet's film, which is a masterpiece of rhythmic compositions coupled with tribal drums, Dirty is rather silent and meditative, more formally controlled. Dwoskin is more interested in investing his time in the structural aims of his work. Truly a one of a kind film, Dirty manipulates film by stopping on certain frames, slowing down others, and letting some just be what they are. In addition, the flickering and gritty quality of the film is nothing short of astonishing. Essentially, this is Andy Warhol's Beauty #2 (1965) but without the icy arrogance; instead, Dwoskin uses his subjects--identified as Barbara and Ann during the title sequence consisting of crumpled paper--to explore the relationship between movement and time, space and film.
P.S. Will someone please get me some more of Dwoskin's work? Dyn Amo (1972), perhaps...
