submitted by CommunistCuddlefish to blorp 11 points | 2 comments

Earlier this year I showed one really brutal and horrifying black and white film (Begotten), then a month later Tith showed a surreal and beautiful black and white film (The American Astronaut). In both cases I was left with a profound sense of wonder and mystery that made me ache to rewatch them. Alas, I am terrible at watching anything on my own. Somehow, we feel they pair really well together, so we’re going to re-show them as a double feature today!

Start times:

5:00PM US EDT: Begotten (CHECK THE CWs THIS IS GNARLY)

6:30PM US EDT: The American Astronaut

A note: timezones hard, feel free to use www.worldtimebuddy.com or something similar to do timezone conversions to your local time

We will be using Blorptube tonight: blorp.bot.nu/o/visual_cuisine IMPORTANT NOTE: please use a good VPN whenever visiting Blorptube due to how peering works.

Begotten (1989) (1h12min)

“Begotten is an experimental 1989 American film written and directed by E. Elias Merhige. It stars the largely unknown actors Brian Salzburg, Donna Dempsey, Stephen Charles Barry and members of Merhige’s theatre company Theatreofmaterial. Its unconventional narrative depicts the suicide of a godlike figure and the births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth, who undertake a journey across a dying world. Merhige directed two short film sequels: 2006’s Din of Celestial Birds and 2022’s Polia & Blastema: A Cosmic Opera.

Merhige conceived the film as a dance piece for experimental theatre. Inspired by documentary footage of the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima, he decided on a full-length film. Begotten has a gritty visual style, intended to give the impression of damaged film stock which has been degraded through time and wear. As with the Hiroshima footage, Begotten is silent. After completion, Merhige spent two years trying to find a distributor. It debuted at the Montreal World Film Festival and later screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival, with the film critics Tom Luddy and Peter Scarlet in attendance. The two brought it to the attention of the critic Susan Sontag, whose enthusiastic praise was instrumental to its eventual release. It was ignored by most mainstream critics and the few reviews were polarized.

Begotten is infused with multiple mystic and religious themes. Critics have debated if it reflects popular attitudes towards the origins of life and religion at the time of its production and portrays creation through the mythic and religious traditions. Some writers have interpreted the film as an examination of the cycle of life and mankind’s relationship with nature. Other themes include the Nietzschean view of order and chaos, societal norms and the perception of reality.

I couldn’t find the sequels so while they are short, we won’t be watching them.

More from Wikipedia:

“Begotten is shot in a dark, grungy and visceral style. Distorted perspectives and degraded image quality were used to evoke an ancient and otherworldly atmosphere.[38][39] The film has been described as “a cinematic Rorschach test of grotesque, imagery” and “a feature-length fever dream”.[40][41] Merhige was interested in crafting imagery through analog format[14] and sought a decayed look that the footage had been damaged through time and wear.[42] He said:

I wanted Begotten to look, not as if it were from the twenties, not even as if it were from the nineteenth century, but as if it were from the time of Christ, as if it were a cinematic Dead Sea Scroll that had been buried in the sands, a remnant of a culture with customs and rites that no longer apply to this culture, yet are somewhere underneath it, under the surface of what we call “reality.”[43][44]”

Tith mentioned this one looks like the synthesis of both our Death and Dismemberment styles — Gory (me) and spiritually unsettling (her). I think (hope) we’re in for a treat, and my apologies in advance if the film fails to deliver and double apologies if it does!

The imagery looked spooky and haunting which is what got my attention. The images looked very unsettling, frightening, and disturbing to behold. I’m expecting this one to be gnarly.

Content Warnings for Begotten (1989)

Violence and gore: Severe

• Graphic suicide on screen at the beginning. - Disembowelment - Gore - Torture

Sexual violence: Severe

-removed on screen. The filter is going to remove that so that should be interpreted as “sexual assault on screen”

Other:

• “Extremely disturbing visuals and subject matter”

Doesthedogdie: www.doesthedogdie.com/media/15807

UnconsentingMedia: www.unconsentingmedia.org/items/2058

IMDB Parental Guide: www.imdb.com/title/tt0101420/parentalguide/

TankieTube link to movie: tankie.tube/w/28Bvg91dmbPh4BXK1httxB

The American Astronaut (2001) (1h31m)

The American Astronaut (2001), a musical space opera about dudes, rocks, and dudes rocking - all in outer space. It’s a man’s/boy’s world - women are whispered about, but no one has actually seen one before except for one character. Fresh fruit is smuggled. The director/star of the movie, Cory McAbee, was the leading man for the band The Billy Nayer Show. This film grew out of a space-themed live concept show the band performed.

Stolen from the DVD box:

Eraserhead meets Buck Rogers by way of an MGM musical in this bizarre outer-space saga about Samuel Curtis (Cory McAbee), a galactic truck driver looking to make a killing. The film opens with Curtis landing on the freewheeling, all-male asteroid of Ceres. Before winning a dance contest with his buddy Blueberry Pirate – who is renowned for smuggling fresh fruit – Curtis learns from Blueberry about a scheme to give a fetal “real live girl” to the similarly male-dominated planet of Jupiter in exchange for a strapping adolescent known solely as “The Boy Who Actually Saw a Female Breast.” He in turn will be sent to the all-female planet of Venus where he will spend his life servicing the planet’s occupants. Unfortunately, Curtis is followed by the mysterious self-proclaimed birthday boy Professor Hess, who has a tendency to vaporize any and all who come into contact with him. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival as a part of the Midnight Madness program.

• Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/film/the-american-astronaut/
• IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt0243759/

CWs for The American Astronaut (2001)

• IMDB parental guide: www.imdb.com/title/tt0243759/parentalguide/
• doesthedogdie.com: www.doesthedogdie.com/media/240213
• UnconsentingMedia: (not listed)
• TankieTube Link to movie: tankie.tube/w/2qjeFH4Q35nzVdJJPcPytK

This is as long as it is only because there’s thorough documentation of potential triggers for this film.

• Multiple discussions of child marriage
• problematic age gap
• child abuse
• a minor is sexualized
• pseudo-incest
• jokes about sexual assault on mentions
• sudden loud noises
• ableist language/behavior
• child abandonment
• a mentally ill person is violent
• someone struggles to breathe
• stylized gun violence
• a parent dies
• someone has PTSD
• disabled person portrayed by abled person
• choking
• stalking
• alcohol use
• someone is watched without their knowledge
• someone loses their virginity (not shown)
• spitting
• screaming
• someone’s mouth is covered
• kidnapping
• meltdowns
• someone is restrained
• a spaceship has a rough landing

IMDB Parental Guide:

Sex + Nudity: Mild

• Several sexual references are made, including female masterbation, “humping,” and sex with multiple partners. - One of the characters is referred to as “the boy who actually saw a woman’s breasts.” - A song is titled “The Girl With The Vagina Made Of Glass.”

Violence + Gore: Mild

• A ray gun disintegrates people.

Profanity: Severe

• Although not constant, the F- and S-words are used occasionally. The F-word is primarily used, and as such the profanity exceeds what would generally be considered a PG-13 level.

Alcohol, Drugs + Smoking: Mild

• In a bar, all of the customers are either smoking or drinking.

Frightening + Intense Scenes: None

• Nothing ever happens.