River of Fundament (2014)

5.9/10 310 min Drama Fantasy

Overview

Visionary artist Matthew Barney returns to cinema with this 3-part epic, a radical reinvention of Norman Mailer’s novel Ancient Evenings. In collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler, Barney combines traditional modes of narrative cinema with filmed elements of performance, sculpture, and opera, reconstructing Mailer’s hypersexual story of Egyptian gods and the seven stages of reincarnation, alongside the rise and fall of the American car industry.

Cast

Milford Graves

Norman II

John Buffalo Mailer

Norman I

Ellen Burstyn

Hathfertiti

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Hathfertiti

Paul Giamatti

Ptah-Nem-Hotep

Joan La Barbara

The Widow of Norman

Stephen Payne

Usermare

Aimee Mullins

The Ka of Norman / Isis

Matthew Barney

The Ka of Norman / Osiris: James Lee Byers

Elaine Stritch

Eulogist

Lila Downs

Ranchera Singer

Lila Downs

Priest / REN Manager

Debbie Harry

Singing Wake Guest

Recommendations

August Rush
Magnolia
Interstate 60
Tuesday
Aníkúlápó
Prospero's Books
Melancholia
Synecdoche, New York
Horns
The Secret Life of Bees
Ray
Lost Highway
O'Dessa
Hesher
Nomadland
Dancer in the Dark
Nine Days
Northfork
3 Women
Dragonfly