''Imitation of Christ'' is a film shot and directed by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

in 1967.

Summary

The title for this film comes from the ''

De imitatione Christi ''The Imitation of Christ'', by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as ''De Imitatione Christi'' ( 1418–1427).''An introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious studies'', by Orlando O. Esp� ...

'', a spiritual guide written in the fifteenth century by Dutch mystic/author

Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of '' The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the ...

(1390–1471). The film itself is a realistic dramatic comedy about a handsome young man called Son, silent and moody, who spends much time in his bedroom with the family maid, who feeds him corn flakes, strokes his hair, and reads to him from the ''Imitatione Christi''. Elsewhere in the family home, the young man's mother and father lie in bed and argue over Son, trying to analyze what's wrong with him, while, at the same time, admitting their physical attraction toward him, and lamenting over their own sad lives. Son also has angry arguments there in his home with his abrasive girlfriend, over minor matters. Intercut into the film are outdoor scenes of Son ambling through the streets of San Francisco with a hobo.

Cast

Brigid Berlin Brigid Emmett Berlin (September 6, 1939 – July 17, 2020) was an American artist and Warhol superstar. Early years Berlin was born on September 6, 1939 in Manhattan in New York City. She was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parent ...

(also known as Brigid Polk) played Mother. * Bob Olivo (also known as Ondine) played Father. * Patrick Tilden Close (credited as Pat Close for previous work as a child actor in both film and television) played Son. *

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

played The Maid. * Taylor Mead played Hobo. * Andrea "Whips" Feldman played Son's Girlfriend.

Production

Andy Warhol shot sixteen 32-minute reels of film for all the interior shots (with all of the cast except for Taylor Mead) during January 1967 in a Hollywood Hills home called the Castle (which Warhol rented for his L.A. visits). "'Tunnel' Has a Bold Vision" article
(Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2001, Entertainment section) of the online LA Times archive The exterior segments with Pat Tilden Close and Taylor Mead were filmed in San Francisco parks and streets during May 1967.
webpage in the WarholStars website A long version of the film (480 minutes) premiered in November 1967, and then was withdrawn from circulation — the long film was thought lost for many years, and then was found in the early 2000s. Review of Fall Season (Oct 6 - Dec 10, 2006)
on the Cinematheque Ontario website In December 1967, the entire eight-hour film appeared as a segment within another Warhol film, the 25-hour-long ''****'' (aka ''Four Stars''). In late 1969, Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey condensed the eight-hour ''Imitation of Christ'' to 105 minutes, and re-released it under the same name. Excerpts of ''Imitation of Christ'' were also included within the film ''Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story'', a 75-minute documentary about the life of actress Brigid Berlin (Brigid Polk), directed by Vincent Fremont and Shelly Dunn Fremont, produced by Vincent Fremont Enterprises, and released September 7, 2000.

Critical reception

There was much praise at the initial release, calling Warhol "the equivalent of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

",Bockris, Victor "Warhol: the Biography" Da Capo Press (2003) , page 284 but there was much criticism of the fact the film was not released after the premiere event except in a shortened form.Koch, Stephen (2000) "Stargazer: The Life, World and Films of Andy Warhol" Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd., , p. 99

References

Sources

* "The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures produced in the United States, Issues 1941-1950" University of California Press (1997) , page 524

External links

*
''Imitation of Christ''
webpage on the NICO Films website {{Warhol 1967 films Films directed by Andy Warhol American avant-garde and experimental films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films