Kenneth Anger: Magick Lantern Cycle Blu-ray

MovieMail's Review

Occultist, provocateur and waspish muckraker, Kenneth Anger is among the more interesting figures in film history. The underground nature of his work � defiantly underground, resolutely avant garde � has meant it�s more discussed than actually seen, so this comprehensive collection is a cause for jubilation.

His work can be hermetic. The striking Inaugurations of the Pleasure Dome, would seem inspired by the Tarot, but it�s also �about� colour, music and movement, all of which are orchestrated to perfection. Anyone who cherishes garish beauty should seek it out. It�s a tribute to Anger that the world still hasn�t caught up with what he was doing fifty or more years ago. These invocations are commended to everyone with a taste for a drop of the hard stuff.

James Oliver on 28th April 2009
Author of 146 reviews

Film Description

Self-styled magician Kenneth Anger is one of the most distinctive artists in cinema. Renowned as the author of the scandalous best-selling book Hollywood Babylon, Anger is a legend. The mythology that has grown around him has many sources, from his involvement with the occult, astrology and the pop world of Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Page, to the announcement of his own death in the pages of the Village Voice, and the destruction, loss and banning of his films.

At the heart of all this mythology is a filmmaker of prodigious talent, whose skill and imagination create films of great visual force, influencing filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and RW Fassbinder.

This collection features: Fireworks (1947); Puce Moment (1949); Rabbit's Moon (1950/1971, the rarely seen 16 mins version); Eaux d'Artifice (1953); Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954); Scorpio Rising (1964); Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965); Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969); Rabbit's Moon (1979); Lucifer Rising (1981).

Blu-ray Details

Certificate: 18

Publisher: BFI

Length: 188 mins

Region: 0

Cat No: BFIB1010

Format: Blu-ray Colour

Blu-ray Extras

2 discs (1 x Blu-ray, 1 x DVD)
Newly recorded commentaries by Kenneth Anger
The Man We Want to Hang (2002) � Anger�s film on the art of Aleister Crowley
Restoration work demo
Anger Me (2006) � Elio Gelmini�s portrait of Kenneth Anger
Illustrated booklet containing Modesty and the Art of Film (1951), an original article by Kenneth Anger
The Crowned and Conquering Child (2008), a newly commissioned essay by author Gary Lachman
Film credits.