Cremaster 4 (1995)

Director:

Matthew Barney

Writer:

Matthew Barney (writer)

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Art | Surrealism | Fourth Part | Isle Of Man | Cremaster Cycle

Cast

Matthew Barney	...	The Loughton Candidate
Dave Molyneux	...	Ascending Hack #1
Graham Molyneux	...	Ascending Hack #2
Steve Sinnott	...	Descending Hack #1
Kart Sinnott	...	Descending Hack #2
Christa Bauch	...	Faeries #1
Colette Guimond	...	Faeries #2
Sharon Marvel	...	Faeries #3
John Stud Jr.	...	Loughton Ram

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA | France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12A (re-rating) (2003) | UK:18 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Isle of Man

Company:

Artangel Media

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Creamistress 6: 'The Centered Polenta' (2003) (V)

One of the most easily digestible and likeable Cycle installments

A satyr, surrounded by equally odd-looking assistants, tap-dances so much that he wears a hole into a pier and falls into the sea. Meanwhile, I start thinking about 'The Lord of the Rings'.

Now that Matthew Barney's art-film series is complete, and a DVD release is promised, I can't help wondering what it means for the future of commercial cinema that someone could own these films and place them on a shelf next to Peter Jackson's equally special achievement. Make no mistake, the Cremaster Cycle is a fantasy series (it touches on most genres, actually, but 'fantasy' seems the most fitting as a catch-all description), and it's now tap-danced through the floors of the art gallery into mainstream waters. Wouldn't it be interesting if some young film-maker came on the scene twenty years hence and cited 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Cremaster' as his or her main influence? What would that do to commercial cinema?

We shall no doubt find out. In the meantime, 'Cremaster 4' charts the descent of the films into a sort of reluctant masculinity, accompanied by the mythic, humorous and occasionally gross imagery that Barney has made his own. Unlike the bloated, bewildering 'Cremaster 3' or the somewhat mannered 'Cremaster 5', the meaning of this fourth installment is pretty much on the surface for everyone to see. Testicular images are echoed throughout the film, whether explicitly (the gonads rising out of the sportsmen's jackets) or implicitly (the shape of the docking bay on the pier). And the last image spells it out in a witty and concise way for anyone still confused.

There's a sort of maverick charm to this segment that I found lacking in 'Cremaster 3'. It's there in the rough and ready DV work, and Matthew Barney himself, smirking through layers of prosthetics as the Loughton Candidate as he wears a hole in the pier floor. 'Cremaster 4' is also a sports movie, both in the motor racing event Barney covers (displaying a sharp grasp of the visual grammar of TV sporting events) and in the epic struggle of the Loughton Candidate. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.