Films by Clive Barker and Man Ray

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been watching short experimental films. These have included some films that Man Ray made in the 1920s and two films films that Clive Barker made in the 1970s. It is interesting to watch them together, because they have some similarities. I do not think that Clive Barker was familiar with the films of Man Ray when he made his. Some of the techniques used by both of then have also been used by other film makers. This does not make these techniques less interesting.
First I am going to write about four films by Man Ray. "Le retour à la raison" is a very short film, two minutes. In this there are images of nails in negative, he also uses this image in another film. They are shown without background almost if they are floating in nothingness. This is one of his more abstract films. Mostly there are abstract images. At the end there is the nude torso of a woman. "Emak-Bakia" (Basque which means "Leave Me Alone") was made in 1926. It is sixteen minutes in length. It has images of nails similar to the preceding film. Many shirts made for men at this time were made without collard and detachable collars were made for them. In this film there are images of collars of this type spinning, coming apart, rising into the air, etc. In one scene we see the feet of people getting out of a car. There is a woman with eyes painted on her eyelids. She opens her eyes to reveal her real eyes. There is not really a plot to this film, mostly it is a series of images. "L'étoile de mer" (The Starfish) was made in 1928. It is 15 minutes. Throughout the film we see starfish in glass or on a table or in other places. Alice Prin, who was known as Kiki de Montparnasse and a lover of Man Ray and a subject of many of his photographs, was in this film along with Robert Desnos, a surrealist poet. Most of this film was filmed through a type of glass that vaguely distorted the images. This gives them the feel of a painting. The plot of this film is vague but not boring. "Les mystères du château du dé" Was made in 1929, twenty minutes, Man Ray appears in this film. It opens with two men in a bar rolling a pair of dice to decide whether or not they will leave. Their faces are covered by cloth masks which conceal all of their features. They eventually leave the bar and drive through the countryside. Most of the film takes place in a modern château. There is a group of people who are also wearing cloth masks, but their faces are partially visible through the cloth. They are seen playing with over-sized dice, playing in a pool. Sometimes the film is reversed. They also do various exercises. A woman and man arrive at the château and walk on the grounds. In this film and in "Le retour à la raison" there are grid-like images. These are more interesting than they may sound like here.
The films that Clive Barker made in the 1970s were not originally made for public viewing, but were released on DVD more recently. "Salomé" was made in in 1973. Doug Bradley who played Pinhead in the "Hellraiser" films appears in both of Barker's early movies. "Salomé" has a very vague plot. It is loosely based on the story of Salomé from the Bible. "The Forbidden," a longer film was made between 1975 and 1978. It was not edited until later. It contains imagery that reminds me of imagery in Man Ray's films and are also used in the "Hellraiser" movies. Barker said that he based this film on the Faust legend. Most of the film uses negative imagery. In places there images of a grid with nails at equidistant intervals. This is reminiscent of Man Ray's films, and it also resembles the nails and pattern on Pinhead's head. There are images of birds flying by a grid-like images. They appear to be animated, but this is a film effect. Clive Barker appears in this film. He does a very energetic dance. He is nude and has an erection. Peter Atkins who worked with Clive Barker on some of his later films appears in this one. He is seen being skinned and then walking around outside without skin. They did this using a technique they stumbled upon. His body was painted in layers that represented skin, muscles, bone, etc. It looks very realistic, but they were peeling away layers of paint. There are places where his eyes resemble the moon, because they are seen in negative, These films are reminiscent of surrealist films. Their plots can be open to interpretation.