"Cremaster 4" is a 42-minute film by American movie maker Matthew Barney. Do not be fooled by the title, this is the first installment of his Cremaster series. I guess he already knew that more would follow and that is why he chose this title to plays with the audience's minds just like he also attempts with his film here. But it is all very clumsy. This is definitely among the weaker avant-garde films I have seen. I am definitely not a fan of the genre and I guess looking at this one here, there is a very good reason why experimentalism is pretty much almost dead by now and already was in the 1990s as well. Barney must have enjoyed his work though looking at how he made several sequels to this one here and they also became longer and longer. In my opinion, an experimental film must make up in other areas for the lack of a plot and only very few filmmakers manage to do that convincingly. One would be Bruce Conner. Judging from "Cremaster 4", Matt barney is certainly not one of these. This film would have been bearable at 10 minutes max. At over 40, it drags immensely and I do not recommend the watch at all. Thumbs down.
Review of Cremaster 4
