John Cage – From Zero (Experimental films)
Picture: C+
Sound: C Extras: C+ Films: C+
John Cage – From Zero (2004) collects four
films featuring the words, interviews and music of intellectual and creative
mind Cage. Frank Scheffer and Andrew
Culver are responsible for the films, which are:
19 Questions – An abstract pieced using
something they dubbed “chance operations’ with cage pontificating on the said
number of questions and however it goes, it goes. This is not as successful as it could be, but not awful.
Fourteen – Essentially an avant-garde
Music Video set to one of Cage’s works, but despite fancy editing and some
abstract camera angles of “things”, it remains a live performance piece just
the same. The Ives Ensemble interprets
the composition.
Paying Attention – A very, very abstract
piece that distorts video image and sound, but we have seen this kind of thing
back with Godard and Warhol, so this is the poorest piece here. They film a video screen and expect you to
try to hear what cage is saying.
Yawn!!!
Overpopulation & Art – Set
to another on of Cage’s compositions, this best of the four films is saved for
last as the deep thinker considers the future and its many cons. Wonder if he did more pieces like this?
The full frame image varies throughout the four films,
including attempted avant-garde uses of video being filmed like something out
of a bad film class. 19 Questions
fares best in the fidelity department.
The PCM CD Stereo is listed as uncompressed, but I found the source more
compressed than expected, outside of anything fancy being attempted with the
audio. This is some of the most
disappointing PCM I have encountered on DVD-Video and certainly for a music
title. Extras include two interviews
that equal 39 minutes between 15 minutes of co-director Scheffer and the rest
to Culver. Only get it if you are in
that “experimental” mood.
- Nicholas Sheffo
