The trouble with Brakhage, and most avant-garde film, is that, while experimentation is valuable to the artist, it isn't necessarily art in itself. This 60's film is simply an experiment in visual manipulation, which occasionally has some interesting ideas that go nowhere in particular. The division of the film into sections seems unnecessary and, as far as I can tell, follows no particular reasoning. If you're on acid, you might love this film. If you're a filmmaker, you might find it interesting here and there. In general, however, it's not worth the time.
9 Reviews
Remarkable experimental film
JohnSeal15 December 2000
You may be bored silly or you may be mesmerised. You might find yourself slipping into a catatonic state. You might glance away from the screen for a moment, but you'd be advised not too. Stan Brakhage's remarkable mythopoetic epic brought back a rush of 8mm memories for me from my childhood. There are incredible images of beauty and there are bizarre images that will have you rewinding the tape to ask yourself if you just saw what you thought you saw. (You did.) Highest recommendation!
Cure to insomnia
Horst_In_Translation11 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Stan Brakhage made this half-hour short film over 50 years ago when he was in his late 20s. It is the first of four parts, however there is a prologue which runs for almost as long as this first part and Brakhage made a 5th part as well over 30 years after part 4. I wish I could talk a bit more about what was happening, but honestly I have no idea. The camera was so wild and all over the place to understand even remotely what was going on. of course, I could read it, but that's not the purpose of film as medium. You need to understand it from what you see. Occasionally, there were a man and a dog visible, but that's all I could make out. Looked like they were living in some remote era. I am not the greatest fan of Brakhage, but I definitely prefer his kaleidoscope-like animated film that only run for a couple minutes and it baffled me to see how popular this one here is. I found it boring from start to finish and have no plans to ever see it again. Not recommended.
be awake for this one!
Quinoa19842 May 2016
With this 'first' part of Dog Star Man (I'd say you should watch the Prelude before this, but I don't buy that there's exactly a strong 'continuity' here, this isn't the Marvel universe or something), we get more of a narrative this time. By 'more' I mean that there is at least a character of a sort - a rugged man (Brakhage himself) climbing up a mountain. Ala that song by Chumbawumba (remember that one, yes I went there), he gets knocked down and then he gets back up again, and his visions won't keep him down. That is, if they are visions.
This time there are more steady shots that last longer than the half a second or less that we got in the Prelude section, and yet in a strange way I wish it was *more* abstract. Because of there being "character" or a person or whatever, there's some expectation set up, at least for me, for more to go on. What we get is the furious, rapid-fire and stream of consciousness approach to imagery, where things go by so far I visage about 100 images in 20 seconds, and then it goes back briefly to slow-motion shots of the man climbing ever so slowly up the mountainside. Sometimes the dog is there and sometimes not.
Maybe it makes the most sense as this section being like some abstract documentary of what it takes to climb up a mountain, and if you're in a mood that is rather infuriating your mind will go at a very fast clip across images and sights and things that may be unspeakable. That's what this series is strongest as it approaching things like red membranes where cells and tiny organs pulsate, and the sun, shot with a lens that makes it look up close and personal, is imposing in some way that is far off but close at the same time.
And yet for all of the strong passages, I think having the man going up the hill, for as long as this movie is (30 minutes), makes it more monotonous. At least with the Prelude you didn't know what to expect, and it's more of a journey through someone's subconscious or unconscious. Here it's a mix of both this less-than-bare-bones scenario of a man on the mountain (albeit personal to Brakhage, who was out of work at the time with kids and one on the way, and this feels like a battle to persevere), and the abstract stream. It works, but not to where it's as outstanding as the Prelude.
This time there are more steady shots that last longer than the half a second or less that we got in the Prelude section, and yet in a strange way I wish it was *more* abstract. Because of there being "character" or a person or whatever, there's some expectation set up, at least for me, for more to go on. What we get is the furious, rapid-fire and stream of consciousness approach to imagery, where things go by so far I visage about 100 images in 20 seconds, and then it goes back briefly to slow-motion shots of the man climbing ever so slowly up the mountainside. Sometimes the dog is there and sometimes not.
Maybe it makes the most sense as this section being like some abstract documentary of what it takes to climb up a mountain, and if you're in a mood that is rather infuriating your mind will go at a very fast clip across images and sights and things that may be unspeakable. That's what this series is strongest as it approaching things like red membranes where cells and tiny organs pulsate, and the sun, shot with a lens that makes it look up close and personal, is imposing in some way that is far off but close at the same time.
And yet for all of the strong passages, I think having the man going up the hill, for as long as this movie is (30 minutes), makes it more monotonous. At least with the Prelude you didn't know what to expect, and it's more of a journey through someone's subconscious or unconscious. Here it's a mix of both this less-than-bare-bones scenario of a man on the mountain (albeit personal to Brakhage, who was out of work at the time with kids and one on the way, and this feels like a battle to persevere), and the abstract stream. It works, but not to where it's as outstanding as the Prelude.
For the first two minutes I enjoyed the pleasure of seeing, for the next two I enjoyed the skill it took to edit it, and then I tried to fall asleep.
Orlok20 June 1999
If you like to feel like you are better than other people, see this movie and pretend to like it. This film combines short, chiefly unrelated shots in order to explore the viewing experience. Though there is basic technical skill involved and Brakhage must have certainly spent a long time making Dog Star Man, if the film were cut up and recombined in much any other way, it is doubtful anyone would know the difference. This film comes from the same sort of mentality which created color field painting and other such things which chiefly interest people who don't have anything useful to do with their time. If you haven't seen it yet and aren't on acid, avoid this film at all costs.
A blank TV would be more entertaining.
cinephile-2769024 June 2018
Like Wavelength, nothing happens.
Skip this movie!
The "best" part is the random topless woman.
Oh, and there's a mountain climber.
Well that's it.
Don't see this movie?
Have you seen....any other movie?
Can you name one?
Go see that instead!
surreal technical masterpiece
schachtmant10 February 2002
This 5-part montage is clearly a technical masterpiece, but like most surreal art pieces, it is dangerous to conceptualize with any confidence. It is highly recommended that that viewer experience all five parrts as they are certainly related. Although I am ignorant of the technical aspects of filmmaking, this film surely is mandatory viewing for film students since it appears to use every trick in the book for imagery-based, fast-cut filmmaking. Conceptually (as one viewer's take on the film), the film is about a young male in a cold, snowy alpine-like setting and his dog as they work their way along through the cold, harsh, dangerous elements. We experience what hapens in the mind and body of this individual during the ordeal, including scenes of the outdoors, biomedical footage of the inner workings of the body's tissue and organs, interactions between this man and a woman's body, his dog, celestial shots, the birth and first year of a new born baby. All of this is put together with great artistic talent (I was often reminded of work by Paranjanov, Tartovsky and Greenaway but I am not sure that any connection is warranted anywhere except in my own reaction) and depicts one man's fast-paced struggle with all of these experiences. The full-length feature is long and taxes one's attention, but the journey is worth it for those willing to take such an adventure.
...a flash of memory still burning a final design into my retinas...
dubnut18 December 1998
This is not a "movie" in any hollywood-sense.
Close your eyes, watch as the patterns emerge from the darkness, slip in a few memory stills from the movie of your life, make the white noise as silent as possible in your cranium (no sound in this movie at all, unless your vcr makes a hissing noise), take this seemingly unreal experience and transpose it to film, scratch the film with forks, burn it with lighters, paint on the film, crinkle it, twist it, swallow it whole the way the tibetans swallow strips of cloth to clean their intestines, wash it, reel it and see the movie of your dreams.
"great" isn't good enough. This film goes off the scale, as we mere humans have no method of measuring the value of such an experience. If I had 30 thumbs they would all be up. If I had to choose from 1 to five stars, I would have to obliterate the stars, turn them into black holes, wait til a few more stars gather round and post them all right here for the world to see::::::::>
Close your eyes, watch as the patterns emerge from the darkness, slip in a few memory stills from the movie of your life, make the white noise as silent as possible in your cranium (no sound in this movie at all, unless your vcr makes a hissing noise), take this seemingly unreal experience and transpose it to film, scratch the film with forks, burn it with lighters, paint on the film, crinkle it, twist it, swallow it whole the way the tibetans swallow strips of cloth to clean their intestines, wash it, reel it and see the movie of your dreams.
"great" isn't good enough. This film goes off the scale, as we mere humans have no method of measuring the value of such an experience. If I had 30 thumbs they would all be up. If I had to choose from 1 to five stars, I would have to obliterate the stars, turn them into black holes, wait til a few more stars gather round and post them all right here for the world to see::::::::>
Brakhage is more than a filmmaker.
Douglass2924 April 2003
If anyone tells you that this movie is boring, you won't enjoy it, you don't get it, then this person doesn't know the first thing about film. For a film to be put in the National Congress Library, and claimed as "The most important film ever made", hands down, you must be missing something.
Dog Star Man, as a whole, is the most amazing experience you could ever sit through. If sitting through "Tears of the Sun" with Bruce Willis was "the best movie ever", then you have never traveled to the avant-garde world of cinema. I would have to say that you should look at "Dog Star Man" and then "Mothlight" if you need to see a good movie. The film itself holds a story in each frame. Seriously, all would love this film. If you have something negative againest this film, please take into consideration what it takes to put something like this together.
Light, picture, sounds. Brakhage is more than a filmmaker.
RIP: SB 1933-2003
Dog Star Man, as a whole, is the most amazing experience you could ever sit through. If sitting through "Tears of the Sun" with Bruce Willis was "the best movie ever", then you have never traveled to the avant-garde world of cinema. I would have to say that you should look at "Dog Star Man" and then "Mothlight" if you need to see a good movie. The film itself holds a story in each frame. Seriously, all would love this film. If you have something negative againest this film, please take into consideration what it takes to put something like this together.
Light, picture, sounds. Brakhage is more than a filmmaker.
RIP: SB 1933-2003
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