Brakhage: The Final Word

Brakhage: The Final Word is a vital short documentary. Not long before his passing, the grandfather of experimental film, Stan Brakhage, (recently celebrated with the Criterion Collection DVD By Brakhage), sat down with director Benjamin Meade and camera man Bill Pryor to discuss his life, his longings, and the state of film in America. Edited with expressionist breaks that emulate the late filmmaker's aesthetic, Brakhage: The Final Word captures the congenial master in intimate conversation with pioneering experimental filmmaker recorded in Kansas City just before his death. The colorful, outspoken Brakhage expounds on life as an orphan in the midwest, his filmmaking technique and how it developed, and the state of the arts in the United States.