The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies
50_bands_50_States_2009_banner

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis

It's hard not to be moved
By RICHARD BECK  |  February 21, 2007
3.0 3.0 Stars
phxcinema#Jack Smith_Destruction_ Atlantis#')

Even if Andy Warhol did call filmmaker Jack Smith “the only person I would ever copy,” Mary Jordan’s portrait of the avant-garde anti-hero goes a little far in asserting his importance. Film, performance art, rock videos, Fellini — Jack Smith, it seems, made it all happen. Despite Jordan’s sometimes stifling love of her subject, she has an imaginative eye for Smith’s surprisingly coherent æsthetics. Those who admired and hated his films — “Flaming Creatures” (1963) is either famous or notorious depending on who you talk to — may have painted him as everything from sexual freedom fighter to moral menace, but for Smith it was all about the “Baroque.” His ornate sensibilities are on display throughout, and with his sad, sing-songy voice serving as a guide, it’s hard not to be moved. Warhol, Jonas Mekas, and Mary Jordan herself want him to have transformed a world that he only wanted to escape. The Harvard Film Archive is accompanying this documentary with a program of “Flaming Creatures” and two other Jack Smith films go to hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/.
Related: Fissionable material, Cheech and Chong get the gong, When worlds collide, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Andy Warhol,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

ARTICLES BY RICHARD BECK
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: RICHARD BECK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group