The Alphabet (1975)

0.0/10 • 12 min •

Overview

A particular favorite of mine, this film takes Rimbaud’s words one step further into the arena of “inane refrains and artless rhythms.” I used a Bolex with an extreme macro lens to flip and roam through the pages of Chinatown pamphlets, Victorian erotic novels, and American pulp fiction, zooming in on lines and phrases and grasping at the truth that the pages can talk and that the words have their own independent lives. The Stravinsky soundtrack sets the pace for this restless proto-literary journey. I also used a shadow puppet for the first time, a year before None Saved. - P. V. Z.

Cast

Recommendations

Vampir Cuadecuc
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
History of the World: Part I
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Pretty Baby
The Doors
Taxi Driver
Sight
Powaqqatsi
Black Box
Rasputin: The Mad Monk
Lust for a Vampire
Walk on the Wild Side
Nowhere
John Candy: I Like Me
The Rum Diary
Finch
Play Dirty
Words on Bathroom Walls
Living in Oblivion