Cremaster 3 (2002)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Matthew Barney

Writer:

Matthew Barney (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 2003 (Iceland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The third film of a five-part art-installation epic -- it's part-zombie movie, part-gangster film.

Plot Keywords:

Racetrack | Sequel | Art Film | Bar | Third Part

Cast

Richard Serra	...	Hiram Abiff
Matthew Barney	...	The Entered Apprentice
Aimee Mullins	...	The Entered Novitiate / Oonagh MacCumhail
Paul Brady	...	Cloud Club Maitre D'
Terry Gillespie	...	Cloud Club Barman
Mike Bocchetti	...	Grand Master
David Edward Campbell	...	Grand Master
James Pantoleon	...	Grand Master
Jim Tooey	...	Grand Master
Nesrin Karanouh	...	Gary Gilmore
Peter Donald Badalamenti II	...	Fionn MacCumhail (as Peter D. Badalamenti)
The Mighty Biggs	...	Fingal
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Heather Coker	...	Dancer
James Drescher	...	Lead Singer - Murphy's Law
Todd Christian Hunter	...	Mason (as Todd Hunter)
Joseph P. McDonnell	...	Master Mason
Roger Miret	...	Lead Singer - Agnostic Front
Courtney Patton	...	Principal dancer
Alexandra Sawyier	...	Dancer
Tara Stiles	...	Principal Dancer
Sofie Zamchick	...	Baby Giant (singing voice)

Runtime:

182 min | UK:179 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:14 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Chrysler Building - 405 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Glacier Field LLC

Goofs:

Continuity: After the teeth have begun to exit the Apprentice's prolapsed intestine, there is an overhead shot of the hitmen standing around the Apprentice on the dentist's chair. The view of the intestine is slightly blocked by the back of one of the hitmen, but as he shifts from side to side, the teeth are nowhere to be seen.

Movie Connections:

Follows Cremaster 1 (1996)

Can't say I understood, but it's been haunting me

When I got out of the theater after seeing this movie, I was stuck with one major question: how does one get the financing to make such a movie? How do you sell a movie so unusual to investors?

I must admit I desperately wanted this movie to make sense. I wanted the mason to have a legitimate reason to fill an elevator with concrete, and I wanted this reason explained later on in the movie, but I could tell the answer would never come. I know my expectations were conditioned by years of conventional cinema and storytelling. For this reason alone, Cremaster was worth watching. It stirred me up, exposed me to very personal and thorough symbolism, and made no apologies.

This movie is not cinema as you've come to know it, it's performance art caught on film. I've heard that the artist explains a lot of his symbolism on his website but I'm not sure I want to know, at least for now. I'd rather let the images simmer in my mind for a few weeks and let meaning bubble up. For now, three days after seeing it, I'd say the movie is basically about the powerlessness of the individual against the powers that be and the necessity for an artist to pander to those powers to achieve his vision. This necessity is also the struggle that drives the creative process. Lackeys and employees are numbed by their position, and some of them express themselves in a creative way to alleviate the numbness and feel alive. Whether they succeed or not is not the point.