Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1951
Venom and Eternity
Buy Venom and Eternity now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Venom and Eternity' is a 1951 French avant-garde film by Isidore Isou that grew out of the Lettrist movement in Paris.Andrew Hussey, 'The Strange and Enchanted Life of Isidore Isou', Reaktion Books, pp. 201-204 It created a scandal at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.[https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/isidore-isou-by-andrew-hussey/5213 Book Review of 'The Strange and Enchanted Life of Isidore Isou' at 'Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art']
Description
'Venom and Eternity' is arranged in a three-part structure. The first chapter, "Principle" , displays people walking around the streets of Paris as the audio track presents an argument at a film society. The second chapter, "Development" , shows a romantic meeting between two people. This section is combined with found footage. The final chapter, "Proof" , uses increasingly abstract images, including countdown leader and clear leader. Its audio track resumes the debate from "Principle" and features Lettrist poetry.Cabaas 2014, pp. 31.
Production
Isou began filming 'Venom and Eternity' in 1950.Wall-Romana 2012, p. 229. The scenes of various Lettrists walking were shot on the streets of Saint-Germain-des-Prs. Isou used found footage discarded by the Ministry of Defence and various film laboratories.
Release
Isou first screened a four-and-a-half-hour rough cut of the film on 20 April 1951.Cabaas 2014, p. 1. Fearing that he would be deported from France in the event of public controversy, Isou had the film transported to the 1951 Cannes Film Festival by Marc'O, , Franois Dufrene, Maurice Lematre, and Gil J. Wolman. Isou was unable to enter 'Venom and Eternity' into the festival but harassed officials until they allowed him to present his film at the Vox Theater.Cabaas 2014, pp. 2223.
At the time of the premiere, only the first third of the film had a completed image track.Cabaas 2014, p. 25. A hostile audience began jeering shortly after the film began. After the first section finished, the screen went blank. The projector light was turned off as the audio track continued to play to a darkened theatre. Audience members were infuriated, and the screening was ended early.Wall-Romana 2012, p. 230. Accounts of the scandalous response described a rioting audience and police officers using fire hoses on the crowd, but these stories are largely apocryphal. Director Jean Cocteau awarded Isou the "Prix de spectateurs d'avant-garde" for 'Venom and Eternity'.Verrone 2011, p. 65.
As soon as 'Venom and Eternity' was completed, the Cin-Club Avant-Garde 52 showed it at the Muse de l'Homme in Paris.Andrew Hussey, 'The Strange and Enchanted Life of Isidore Isou', Reaktion Books, p. 203 Starting in January 1952, it had a two-week theatrical run at the Studio de l'Etoile.Cabaas 2014, pp. 3334.
Legacy
'Venom and Eternity' was the first cinematic work by the Lettrist movement. The film became a major influence on the work of Stan Brakhage.Cabaas 2014, pp. 136137.
See also
* List of avant-garde films of the 1950s
Notes
References
*
*
*
Buy Venom and Eternity now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1951