Director's Series, Vol. 2 - The Work of Director Chris Cunningham
by Lance Bangs
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Actor: Aphex Twin, Björk, Robert Ball (VI), Stephen Ball (II), William BaraketDirector: Lance Bangs
Brand: Uni
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Running Time: 200 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Product features:
- Chris Cunningham is one of the most innovative music video directors in the field. Combining a passion for special effects (he built a robot for the JUDGE DREDD movie and picked-up an Oscar nomination for special effects in ALIEN 3), electronica, and a dark sense of humor, Cunningham has infiltrated the underground and the mainstream with his state-of-the-art video techniques. Included on this com
DVD Reviews of Director's Series, Vol. 2 - The Work of Director Chris Cunningham
DVD Review: WOW WOW WOW
Summary: 5 Stars
Chris Cunningham's collection of videos is the shortest one in the series (the others being The Works of Director Spike Jonze; and Michael Gondry)- only eight of them, as well as a `making of' and some short extras (commercials, video excepts, etc). So if you are looking for quantity over quality for the price, you might be disappointed. Yet those who frankly appreciate the artistry of producing images that correspond comfortably with the music will unquestionably admire Cunningham's unique inspired visions. He essentially realizes his dark, hallucinatory visions so well, the compositions start to depend on their videos' shocking content, rather than the contrary.At that, it is obligatory to point out that the artists, whose tracks Cunningham converted onto the screens, are atypical in the contemporary dominance of idolized pop music. Aphex Twin is notorious within his own fan base (IDM - Intelligent Dance Music), and has composed trippy soundscapes since he was 14. His work ranges from incomprehensive and pompous to subtle and unnerving. He can be disturbingly lyrical, but also aggressive beyond reason.
Cunningham perceives the nucleus of Aphex Twin's opuses. The `97 `Come to Daddy' video has been famously banned from day-time MTV, as well as numerous other networks. I myself saw it in Moscow at around 2 am, and understood the reason - despite lacking offensive language, graphic violence and sex, the surreal, sputtering images enhance the terror of the song to an almost-unbearable effect. Little girls, all with Richard D. James' faces? Old grandma with a pit-bull? Watch out for that sickening creature crawling out of the unplugged TV-screen! As for `Windowlicker', Aphex Twin's hip-hop influenced acidic fable - Cunningham's vision is a masterpiece, a short film of otherworldly pallid glow that takes place in LA. It disturbing, pitch-perfectly edited to the track (with occasional random acid-flashbacks to `behind the scenes' in the midst of the action) and sardonic of its subject matter. You will never forget this one.
The most accessible videos on this compilation are Madonna's trancelike `Frozen' (possibly her best video yet); Portishead's `Only You' (filmed underwater for a glorious effect); Leftfield's `Afrika Sjox' (also banned in some countries, but in all honesty it is not all that disturbing - rather peculiar and heartbreaking, but not disturbing); and the beautiful, inventive `All is Full Of Love' from Bjork that's bound to send shivers down multiple spines.
Autechre's video is interesting to study as Cunningham's first, `95, venture into filmmaking. It is more experimental, and the track `Second Bad Vilbel' is as incomprehensive as its name, yet Cunningham nonetheless manages to grasp the quintessence - there is a conclusion to the video that is both frightening and thought-provoking. As for Square pusher's `Come On My Selector', if you thought Tom Jenkinson's speckled crazed beats cannot be portrayed visually, think again - this is one awesome video, pardon the minimalism of the statement.
Check out the DVD's booklet also for the art, but as for extras, there really isn't much to say - I think it's for the better. Spike Jonze has reached popularity in Hollywood ("Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation"), and so has Michael Gondry ("Human Nature") - hence the numerous extras in their packages. Chris Cunningham is yet to emerge, yet to reach the apex of his popularity, and his videos declare: "What an apex it'll be!"
Description of Director's Series, Vol. 2 - The Work of Director Chris Cunningham
Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/28/2003Like the other volumes in the acclaimed Director's Series (featuring the work of Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry), The Work of Director Chris Cunningham offers a feast of visual ingenuity, with one major difference: Unlike the relatively playful brightness of Jonze and Gondry, Cunningham wants to involve you in his nightmares. From the urban monstrosities of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" to the limb-shattering weirdness of Leftfield's "Afrika Shox," Cunningham's music videos emphasize the freakish and the bizarre, but they are also arrestingly beautiful and otherworldly, as in the aquatic effects used for Portishead's "Only You," combining underwater movements with ominous urban landscapes. Some of Cunningham's shock effects are horrifically effective (his 'flex" video installation, excerpted here with music by Aphex Twin, is as disturbing as anything conjured by David Cronenberg), while others are cathartic or, in the case of Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker," outrageously amusing. And while the eerie elegance of Madonna's "Frozen" arose from a chaotic production, the signature work in this collection is clearly Björk's "All Is Full of Love," a masterfully simple yet breathtaking vision of intimacy involving advanced robotics and seamless CGI composites. In these and other videos, Cunningham advances a unique aesthetic, infusing each video and commercial he makes with a dark, occasionally gothic sensibility. That these frequently nightmarish visions are also infectiously hypnotic is a tribute to Cunningham's striking originality. --Jeff Shannon
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