Slow It Down

Though Andy Warhol was arguably the most productive filmmaker of the 1960s, few of his films have been seen.  This is because in the 1970s Warhol himself decided to stop allowing them to be shown.  He liked the idea of them developing a mythos.  Films that were talked about often but impossible to see.

Since his death in 1986 it's become a bit easier to see these films, but not by much.  Some are available on murky bootlegs while the bulk are only shown in conjunction with museum retrospectives of the paintings.  That's how I finally got to see a  a handful of his infamous screen tests.

While it's true that the films are much more stimulating intellectually than visually, there is no denying a certain beauty in his imagery.  Shot at sound speed and projected at silent speed, the nearly imperceptible slow motion helps to give great pomp and circumstance to even the most minuscule movements.  Something is off but you can't exactly place it.

On Tuesday (4/7), Plexifilm is releasing 13 Most Beautiful...Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests.  This is the first ever authorized release of a Warhol film on DVD.  Hopefully there will be many more to follow.  I personally would love to see a Criterion release of The Chelsea Girls.