There are apparently two versions of this fairly poetic music video all done in mime (and as Anger says in the audio commentary it's indebted to the 'Comedia Dell'arte' in Italy as much as it's in France, the latter where he shot it in 1950), and I saw the one that Anger recut and put a new song to. I'd be curious to see the original version, or if there's more than one as it had doo-wop music and was less sped up. In the 7 minute 1979 version, it's sped up to about 20 frames per second (that's my best guess) so it's not so fast that it gets into Keystone Cops or something, but it's highly stylized.
As to what it's about... well, it's a clown having all of the emotions while under the moon at night. Then another clown comes and the song - It Came in the Night by A Raincoat, which is a ridiculously catchy and fun song that feels like a precursor (or just was part of) New Wave - replays itself. Poetic intent is the name of the game here, and Kenneth Anger wants to have this very sweet-somber-sad story about love being so far away in the moon and then when the other woman clown comes it's... I'm not sure.
Like a music video you can simply enjoy it as a series of shots that cut extremely well to music, which seems to me after seeing a few of his films the director's specialty, and the actor Andre Soubeyran is graceful and a wonderful actor. But having to look up the synopsis of what it's about after seeing it to know that it has a story and an arc is kind of frustrating. Beautiful look and feel, and I'm sure I'd watch it again simply for the technical achievement. Not as impactful as some of his other films, and yet it's still highly watchable and pleasurable as far as cinematography and editing go. 6.5/10
As to what it's about... well, it's a clown having all of the emotions while under the moon at night. Then another clown comes and the song - It Came in the Night by A Raincoat, which is a ridiculously catchy and fun song that feels like a precursor (or just was part of) New Wave - replays itself. Poetic intent is the name of the game here, and Kenneth Anger wants to have this very sweet-somber-sad story about love being so far away in the moon and then when the other woman clown comes it's... I'm not sure.
Like a music video you can simply enjoy it as a series of shots that cut extremely well to music, which seems to me after seeing a few of his films the director's specialty, and the actor Andre Soubeyran is graceful and a wonderful actor. But having to look up the synopsis of what it's about after seeing it to know that it has a story and an arc is kind of frustrating. Beautiful look and feel, and I'm sure I'd watch it again simply for the technical achievement. Not as impactful as some of his other films, and yet it's still highly watchable and pleasurable as far as cinematography and editing go. 6.5/10