Response to Films: Kenneth Anger

"Kustom Kar Kommandos" (1965) was made by Kenneth Anger. Why did he name this film Kustom Kar Kommandos? Why did he replace the C's with K's? And the first thing the film does is greet us with a bright neon pink background, while having boys praise the car. I'm not sure why the the camera continues to shake as it pans over the car. (This really made me want to drive this car because of the pans, but I wished it was smoother!) The car is well taken car of, possibly, most likely, it's a new car. It reminds me of those car advertisements that really hone in on the whole "look at this brand new model." It was also playing "Dream Lover" in the background. The main character, whose face is unseen throughout most of the film, gently wipes the car. Is this a car fetish? Possibly, or it could be an attachment to materialistic items? The main focus in the film would have to be the car. The man is taking care of the car, wiping it down with... well, I don't know exactly what. I'm not sure of what he's holding. It looks like a giant white fuzz ball. So the car became the main attraction, which fits part of the title of "Kustom Kar". I'm not sure how the "Kommandos" tie into the whole film since a commando is a soldier trained to carry out raids. Is this person trained to take care of the car? He knows how to work the car, so the possibility of him being "trained" to keep the car in pristine shape is probable.

So, I wasn't expecting the second video to be different than the first, but the focus from cars and men changed to dresses and women. Sort of. In "Puce Moment" (1949), it begins with showing the title before waving around dresses really close to the screen. Each dress has its own uniqueness to it and continues for a good two minutes. The dresses are generally pale, ranging from oranges, yellows, greens, and blues (with the occasional gold or silver). But the word "puce" refers to a dark red/purple-brown color. The dresses pass by with increasing speed. The video itself is very choppy. It fades in shot from shot. So a medium shot of her zoomed in to a close up on her face, but it fades in rather than changing to that shot immediately. This film is almost surreal, not quite to the degree of Maya Deren (because she intertwines different shots and makes a whole story about that with also concepts and plays on time). But for Anger's film, it's just strange. Why is she walking four dogs down the stairs? How did the couch bring her outside? And the music suddenly cuts off when I thought it would continue playing. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be prepared for nor do I understand the film. I feel like this will be a continuing pattern with experimental film makers.