The Dante Quartet

Dante's work is masterpiece, this is not. do not confuse, do not conflate

Of the hand-painted films, this is one of the most compelling, due to its thematic structure, varying aspect ratios, and use of actual footage under the paint. Having not read Dante, I'm probably not getting the full effect. I suspect it doesn't quite work as he intended. But as a visual treat, it's a rapid series of striking images.

Another of Brakhage's paint-directly-applied-to-the-film movies, this time, as the title implies, depicting Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. It seems like there's not *too* much difference between the three, but I suspect that's the point. One could argue that this is kind of wanky and silly, but I'd like to point out that (a) this is a movie, which is and should be all about the image first and foremost, and (b) this short gives you more about which to think than many features

More deliberately (or at least more outwardly) structured than most of Brakhage's painted works, but no less hypnotic for it.

Having a pretty small buffer for artsy stuff I always make sure to research the matter before casting my judgement. But after reading this: sensesofcinema.com/2004/cteq/dante_quartet/ and the wiki I have to agree with the greatest euphemism from the reviewer (see link) to describe 'the internalization of the Divine Comedy' as it being difficult to conceive it being "anything other than a glorious celebration of the experiential and material possibilities of film stock and projected light."

OK I concede that watching on YouTube is not ideal (though the quality of the file in this case was quite good), and I concede that the use of figures and so on adds a kind of ghostly layering. Even so...

this one worked for me quite a bit where most others did not. youtube quality doesn't do it justice.

The first chapter isn't too impressive and is more of the same that we've seen from Brakhage. The other three chapters are fantastic in their own more original ways, and contain so many more layers of film that I could expect (actual footage? Moving images? Zooming in slowly?), they offer up Brakhage's beautifully distorted and colourfully ugly worldview.

Gorgeous, hypnotic, even a bit unsettling. I like the use of moving images subtly placed behind the hand-painted parts. I also like how the speed constantly changes, giving the film a rhythmic quality. Fascinating stuff.

Some brief moments of interest but the lack of sound that really held it back far me.

Quite overrated for a Brakhage film in my opinion, but still interesting & enjoyable.

Brakhage's visual interpretation of Dante's The Divine Comedy. Surprise, Brakhage does it again!

PV

One of his best.

Any one of these frames would probably not be of much interest to me but in sequence they work together to give the piece an added dimension.

More shit art.

Some really fascinating shapes in this one. The beginning and the epic ending stick out for me.