The Stars Are Beautiful (1974) User Reviews

Sure, but can they get in focus?

[Quinoa1984 · 4/10 · 29 March 2018]

Oh hey, kid, I remember you from your first performance in Window Water Baby Moving ;)

I dunno. At first I was fascinated by just hearing Brakhage narrating something - if you watch a lot of his shorts he never even records *sound* much less voices - plus his family in what is 16mm (or 8mm?) home movie footage...

But I just didn't care for most of his poetry - maybe it's how he reads it or the words, combo of the two - and after an initial shock seeing a chicken's wings being cut with scissors there isn't much there with either the home footage or the other things Stan shoots for his words to loop over. Moreover, I didnt think even compared to his usual experimentation there was anything compelling in the process of creating his images and/or cutting them together. It's too heavy-handed and the blurred shots feel less intentionally disorienting and about dissonance than it is just... A misfire.

Family life and astronomy

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 11 May 2016]

"The Stars Are Beautiful" is an 18-minute short film that prolific experimental director Stan Brakhage made in the 1970s. This one includes some wisdom about stars, as the title already says, but also shows us many members of the big Brakhage family, which is probably the best thing about it. It is a nice video for the entire Brakhage family I guess and also for people not belonging to it it can be a solid watch. I definitely enjoyed this one more than Brakhage's usual stuff. It is always nice to see him try something different than his boring routine. The runtime is fine I guess and I would still not say that this was a particularly memorable watch, but yeah at least it is not boredom like what he usually does. Overall, a thumbs down from me, but if you want to get into Brakhage, then this may be a way to start things off.

Deserves another comment

[noelartm · 10/10 · 3 July 2005]

I too love this quirky little Brakhage film. It's just too strange not to like. We see Stan's wife Jane with the Brakhage children clipping a chicken's wings - in sync sound, which was unusual for Stan. Meanwhile, the filmmaker is heard on the soundtrack reciting whimsical poems about the sun, the moon and the stars. There is also nature footage and beautiful light patterns captured as only Stan can. My description really doesn't do it justice as this film is truly indescribable. There is no other category to put this in other than experimental or avant guard. It's a standout on the BY BRAKHAGE: AN ANTHOLOGY DVD, which is highly recommended. Watching Brakhage films like this, you can really feel the influence Stan had on 60s and 70s film students like George Lucas and David Lynch.