THE SCHOOL OF MAYA DEREN: CURTIS HARRINGTON

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Fragment Of Seeking

Even if you aren’t aware that Curtis Harrington was a fan and former unofficial protege of Maya Deren, all you need to do is look at the image above and the many examples below to see her influence on his work (he was also mentored by avant garde legend Kenneth Anger so he was groomed for greatness).
From the editing and sometimes disorienting cinematography to the general theme/idea of the naneless protagonists chasing a mysterioys figure through a house - the works of Deren & Harrington are forever linked.

Even after Harrington moved away from experimental shorts and made slightly more accessible feature films (Night Tide), you can still see Deren’s DNA in his work.

Enjoy…

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Fragment Of Seeking

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Fragment Of Seeking

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Night Tide

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Night Tide

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Night Tide

At Land /
Fragment Of Seeking

At Land /
Fragment Of Seeking

Ritual In Transfigured Time / On The Edge

Ritual In Transfigured Time /
On The Edge

At Land / On The Edge

At Land /
On The Edge

At Land /
On The Edge

Witches Cradle /
The Wormwood Star

Witches Cradle /
The Wormwood Star

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
The Wormwood Star

Meshes Of The Afternoon / The Wormwood Star

At Land /
Night Tide

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Night Tide

THE SCHOOL OF MAYA DEREN: PART 15

As preparation for an event that I'll be taking part of soon (details to come), here is the latest entry in to the visual & thematic similarities between the work of Maya Deren and the many filmmakers that came after her.

Enjoy...

It was very much influenced — in the structure, in the frames — by Maya Deren. She still influences me - Apichatpong Weerasethakul

 

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Uncle Boonmee...

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Uncle Boonmee...

These comparisons below are interesting because, according to Andrew Sarris, Maya Deren Deren once headed up an Anti-Bergman film club (whatever that means) which is strange (and possibly hurtful to Bergman) considering he was a fan of hers and borrowed some of her imagery...

Ritual In Transfigured Time /
Persona

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Persona

Ritual In Transfigured Time / Persona

Maya Deren is not a horror director but some of her imagery is quite haunting nonetheless. Some of the imagery from Meshes Of The Afternoon appears to have rubbed off on some classic horror films like Scream and Psycho...

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Scream

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Scream

Meshes Of The Afternoon /
Scream

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

Meshes Of The Afternoon / Psycho

KENNETH ANGER + NICOLAS WINDING REFN * UPDATED*

I’m not a film analyst but most of the things we do nowadays, also in advertising, lead back to Kenneth Anger’s work - Nicolas Winding Refn

Scorpio Rising /
Hennessy XO 

The visual and thematic comparisons between Kenneth Anger and Nicolas Winding Refn seemed to stop at Drive for a lot of people…

Scorpio Rising /
Drive 

And I guess that makes sense considering the brief hold Drive had one everyone and everything over a decade ago. It was a momentary crossover/pop culture moment where everyone was infatuated with both Drive and Ryan Gosling (on a sidenote - I will say that one major reason I love Refn's follow-up so much is that he intentionally alienated casual fans by making a slow, droning unofficial anti-Drive sequel in the form of Only God Forgives).

Scorpio Rising will always be the go-to Anger film for casual film fans. But there’s so much more to Kenneth Anger’s influence on cinema…

After another revisit of Refn’s latest output (Too Old To Die Young), various interviews and YouTube videos (click here to watch the conversation between Refn & Anger), I realized that Kenneth Anger’s DNA has been all over Refn’s work before and after Drive. From the homoerotic imagery to the random spurts of violence - it's all there.

Below are a bunch of visual comparisons between the work of Kenneth Anger and the majority of Nicolas Winding Refn’s filmography which spans from Film & TV to commercials & advertisements.

Enjoy...

But the person I stole everything from to make the movie is Kenneth Anger. This is a combination of Scorpio Rising and Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome - Nicolas Winding Refn

Scorpio Rising /
Bronson 

Scorpio Rising /
Bronson 

Scorpio Rising /
Bronson 

Scorpio Rising /
Hennessy XO 

Scorpio Rising /
Hennessy XO 

Scorpio Rising / Too Old To Die Young

Fireworks / Too Old To Die Young

Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome / Bronson

Lucifer Rising / 
The Neon Demon

Lucifer Rising / 
The Neon Demon

Lucifer Rising / 
The Neon Demon

Lucifer Rising / 
The Neon Demon

Fireworks / 
Only God Forgives

Fireworks / 
Only God Forgives

Fireworks / 
Only God Forgives

Scorpio Rising/ 
Too Old To Die Young

Scorpio Rising/ 
Too Old To Die Young

Lucifer Rising /
Too Old To Die Young

Kustom Kar Kommandos / 
Drive

Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome / 
Fear X

Fireworks / 
Bleeder

Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome /
Drive

Lucifer Rising / 
The Neon Demon

Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome / Bronson

Scorpio Rising /
Copenhagen Cowboy

Lucifer Rising / 
Copenhagen Cowboy

Fireworks / 
Only God Forgives