U B U W E B - Film & Video: George Kuchar

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George Kuchar (b. 1942)

Corruption of the Damned 1965

"Kuchar's films are overtly insane. Anyone who lived in such a world would be mad inside an hour. Perhaps the Marx Brothers might survive, but I doubt it. Godzilla, King of the Monsters, might have a better chance. But the utter insanity, the insanity of perverted cliche, is the genuine unwholesome appeal of Kuchar's outlook. CORRUPTION might seethe with violence and sex, the two most attractive things you can put on the screen, but beneath them a twisted outlook pervades. Something is very much wrong with the Kuchar world." - Leonard Lipton, Berkeley Barb 1965, 16mm, b&w/so, 55m

Hold Me While I'm Naked 1966

"A very direct and subtle, very sad and funny look at nothing more or less than sexual frustration and aloneness. In its economy and cogency of imaging, HOLD ME surpasses any of Kuchar's previous work. The odd blend of Hollywood glamour and drama with all-too-real life creates and inspires counterpoint of unattainable desire against unbearable actuality." - Ken Kelman

"This film could cheer an arthritic gorilla, and audiences, apparently sensitized by its blithely accurate representation of feelings few among them can have escaped, rise from their general stupor to cheer it back." - James Stoller, The Village Voice

1966, 16mm, color/so, 15m

Eclipse of the Sun Virgin 1967

Starring Deborah-Ann and Edith Fischer.

I dedicate this film poem to the behemoths of yesteryear that perished in Siberia along with the horned pachyderms of the pre-glacial epoch. This chilling montage of crimson repression must be seen. Painstakingly filmed and edited, it will be painful to watch, too.

1967, 16mm, color/so, 15m

Pagan Rhapsody 1970

Starring Jane Elford, Lloyd Williams, Bob Cowan. With Donna Kerness, Brad Bell, John Collyer, Dave Somerset, Janine Soderhjelm, Phillip Weiner.

Since this was Jane and Lloyd's first big acting roles, I made the music very loud so it would sweep them to stardom. She once hurt Bob Cowan's back by sitting on it so this time I had her laying on his stomach.

Donna Kerness was pregnant during her scenes but her stomach was kept pretty much in shadow and it's not noticeable.

My stomach was the same as always except it contained more mocha cake than usual since that type of cake was usually around when I filmed in Brooklyn Heights.

Being that the picture was made in the winter, there are no outdoor scenes because it's too cold and when the characters have to suddenly flee a tense situation, it's too time consuming to have them put on a coat and gloves.

Originally not scheduled as a tragedy, things swiftly changed as the months made me more and more sour as I plummet down that incinerator shaft I call my life.

1970, 16mm, color/so, 23.5m

I, An Actress 1977

This film was shot in ten minutes with four or five students of mine at the San Francisco Art Institute. It was to be a screen-test for a girl in the class. She wanted something to show producers of theatrical productions, as the girl was interested in an acting career. By the time all the heavy equipment was set up the class was just about over; all we had was ten minutes. Since 400 feet of film takes ten minutes to run through the camera ... that was the answer: Just start it and don't stop till it runs out. I had to get into the act to speed things up so, in a way, this film gives an insight into my directing techniques while under pressure.

1977, 16mm, b&w/so, 10m

Wild Night in El Reno 1977

This film documents a thunderstorm as it rages in full fury above a motel in May on the southern plains. There's sun, wind, clouds, rain and electrical pyrotechnics ... with perhaps a glimpse of a fleeting human figure. But only a glimpse.

1977, 16mm, color/so, 6m

The Mongreloid 1978

A man, his dog, and the regions they inhabited, each leaving his own distinctive mark on the landscape. Not even time can wash the residue of what they left behind.

1978, 16mm, color/so, 10m

Forever and Always 1978

A marriage on the rocks that hurts the heart almost as much as the colors hurt the eye. "... a full color portrait of a break-up that comes closer than any other to being an operetta." - B. Ruby Rich

1978, 16mm, color/so, 20m

Ascension of the Demonoids 1985

A big, colorful tapestry about rumors that are in all of the previous UFO movies. A loose story line that weaves in and out of the UFO phenomenon.

1986, VHS, color/so, 46m

Weather Diary 1 1986

This feature-length tape documents one month in a trailer park/motel in Oklahoma, following passing weather systems and the parade of people passing by.

"The tape ultimately addresses all the big questions‹death, origin and family, religion‹as well as the small discomforts of the body, only to reverse their order of importance."

‹Margaret Morse, Framework, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions

Purchase or rent George Kuchar's films and videos from:

Canyon Cinema

EAI

Video Data Bank

RESOURCES:

The Kiss of Frankenstein (2003) in /ubu Editions [PDF]

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