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DRAWING RESTRAINT 9
Directed & Written by: Matthew Barney.
Produced by: Barbara Gladstone & Matthew Barney.
Director of Photography: Peter Strietmann.
Edited by: Luis Alvarez y Alvarez, Matthew Barney, Christopher Seguine & Peter Strietmann.
Music by: Björk.
Released by: IFC.
Country of Origin: USA/Japan. 135 min. Not Rated.
With: Matthew Barney & Björk.

You know, when I think about which two people, of the entire world’s population, would put on headdresses, drink essence-of-whale tea, cut off their legs, have sex and become whales – and I do often think about this – Björk and Matthew Barney are always the first names that come to mind. It’s almost too easy to imagine Björk as a shape-shifting manimal.

And in an unexpected way, that’s part of the point. Barney’s trademark dream-logic is again at work here, his eerily beautiful images unfolding in a way that seems only natural. Of course, Björk is sitting in a large bathtub aboard the last surviving whaling hull, swimming with semi-peeled oranges, and those Japanese nun-nymphs are spitting out pearls that form patterns on the sea floor. With characters accepting all things bizarre and infinite tracking shots maintaining the film’s dream-like movement, the film is less story-based narrative than a series of unquestioned hallucinations.

Over two hours with less than three minutes of dialogue, the plot follows Björk and Barney playing characters called The Occidental Guests, who dress in traditional Shinto wedding garb before turning into whales after a tea ceremony on the world’s last whaler. The other major storyline involves the life, death, and rebirth of a molded tub of Vaseline.

But the constant absurd imagery that made Barney’s The Cremaster Cycle so celebrated is more subdued here. His writing and direction still provide an alien experience, but the film’s long, realistic progression to its bizarre climax is a new technique achieved with somewhat less success than his previous journeys into the out-and-out surreal. Björk’s original contributions to the soundtrack follow the same direction – the caterwauled lyrics are not her familiar word-association games but plainspoken explanations of the film’s symbolism.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a difficult film to understand. But whether it’s because of his collaboration with his wife or his own advancement as an artist, Barney’s new feature is more streamlined and comprehensive than his previous works. And while it’s still an imposing piece, it’s also a very striking film to watch. Zachary Jones
March 29, 2006