''River of Fundament'' is a 2014

operatic Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

written and directed by American contemporary artist and filmmaker

Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...

, and co-directed by longtime collaborator

Jonathan Bepler Jonathan Bepler is an American composer of experimental music perhaps best known for his collaborative work with artists and choreographers, including many years of work with visual artist Matthew Barney. He is also multi-instrumentalist, singer, ...

. It was produced by Barney and the Laurenz Foundation, and is loosely based on American author

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

's 1983 novel '' Ancient Evenings''. The film features Barney, Dave Bald Eagle,

Milford Graves Milford Graves (August 20, 1941 – February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his e ...

John Buffalo Mailer John Buffalo Mailer (born April 16, 1978) is an American author, playwright, actor, producer, and journalist. Life and career Mailer was born in Brooklyn, the youngest child of novelist Norman Mailer and author Norris Church Mailer. Mailer ...

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...

Maggie Gyllenhaal Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Naomi Achs, and the older sister o ...

, Madyn Greer Coakley,

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

Shara Nova Shara Nova (previously Worden) is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snider ...

Joan La Barbara Joan Linda La Barbara (born June 8, 1947) is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, she is credited w ...

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

and

Aimee Mullins Aimee Mullins is an American athlete, actress, and public speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs beneath the knee. She is the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in N ...

Background

''River of Fundament'' was produced over 2007 to 2012, being the final product of a series of performances that accumulated into becoming the film's narrative. The film follows Norman Mailer (played by three actors over the course of the film) as he travels through three

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

s, enduring the seven mythological states of his soul, loosely based on his own novel, ''Ancient Evenings'' (1983). Along with the main narrative, it includes other elements from performance, sculpture, and opera. It has been described as a "eulogy for Mailer". The film was released on February 12, 2014 in a limited theatrical release and through exhibitions at museums in several countries.

Narrative and cast

Writer

, becoming a protagonist of his own, reincarnates three times during and after his wake into three separate bodies, each portrayed in succession by Dave Bald Eagle,

, and Mailer's son

, the last failing to survive through the womb and body of his wife, Hathfertiti (a character in ''Ancient Evenings''). With each reincarnation, he wakes up in a river of feces running beneath his

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...

apartment, where a funeral gathering is also being hosted. Simultaneously, Mailer's body is represented as three generations of American cars: a 1967 Chrysler Crown Imperial (referencing Barney's ''

Cremaster 3 ''The Cremaster Cycle'' is a series of five feature-length films, together with related sculptures, photographs, drawings, and artist's books, created by American visual artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney. ''The Cremaster Cycle'' was made over a ...

''), a 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and finally a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. All three cars are transmogrified through modern industrial processing and recycling to symbolize the regeneration and reincarnation of Mailer. Through this, the narrative also incorporates American

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

drum and bugle corps Drum and bugle corps is a name used to describe several related musical ensembles. * Drum and bugle corps (modern), a musical marching unit * Drum and bugle corps (classic), musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units retu ...

, "stomp teams", American performance artist

James Lee Byars James Lee Byars (April 10, 1932, Detroit, Michigan – May 23, 1997, Cairo, Egypt) was an American conceptual artist and performance artist specializing in installations and sculptures, as well as a self-considered mystic. He was best known for h ...

' piece "The Death of James Lee Byars", Los Angeles culture, the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

and

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. Hathfertiti is variously portrayed by

, and Madyn Greer Coakley at different stages of her life.

portrays

Ptahhotep Ptahhotep ( egy, ptḥ ḥtp "Peace of Ptah"), sometimes known as Ptahhotep I or Ptahhotpe, was an ancient Egyptian vizier during the late 25th century BC and early 24th century BC Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Life Ptahhotep was the city administ ...

(another character in ''Ancient Evenings'').

portrays Mailer's real-world widow.

portrays a eulogist, while

portrays a singing guest at the wake.

portrays Lieutenant Worden.

and Barney portray the Egyptian Gods

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

and

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

respectively. The pornographic actor

Bobbi Starr Bobbi Starr is an American former pornographic actress. Starr also became a director for Evil Angel. Her directorial debut was ''Bobbi's World'', a female POV movie. Early life and education Starr expressed an ambition to study pre-med, wit ...

appears as a garage manager, and

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

appears as a ranchera singer.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, river_of_fundament American avant-garde and experimental films American nonlinear narrative films Video art Films based on American novels 2014 films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films