Drawing Restraint 9 (2005) Reviews

• Brilliant and beautiful

  adnoid772005-10-25

  This experimental film is utterly gorgeous. Barney's film's are as ambitious as any Hollywood blockbuster. The visuals are stunning and the soundtrack by Bjork is the best music to date for one of the artist's projects. If this film comes to your town, I highly recommend checking it out. The narrative structure is somewhat unusual and the film contains almost no dialogue. I found the experience reminiscent of my first time seeing Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". If you're looking for action, this may not be your cup of tea (ha ha). The Japanese locations, the costumes, music, sets, cinematography & special effects create a seamless and highly polished package.

• Amazing!

  slittleshot2005-09-19

  Caught this film at the Toronto Film Fest a couple days ago. Bjork was a no show however her husband - the director/actor/writer of the film, Matthew Barney was in attendance. Barney, very shy and reserved, spoke about the origins of the Drawing Restraint films but only seemed to confuse the audience the more he spoke. He ended up explaining that in order to expand/succeed that something had to be in resistance. His final words told us that every time he didn't know what to do artistically he would always create a new Drawing Restraint film. However, he announced that Drawing Restraint 9 became more of a narrative than just images. The Toronto Film Festival Representative told us that this was the best love/romance movie that had played since the festival began earlier that week. The film starts with someone gift-wrapping a fossil. Like most of the film it is drawn out and some may find it boring. Although, if you are patient and enjoy beautiful images(Barney) and music(Bjork) you'll be happy. We move on to the construction of a ramp that extends into the ocean. Following, we watch strange breathing pearl divers that are dressed in all white. The Guests, Bjork and Matthew Barney, travel separate to the whaling vessel on two different smaller ships. Bjork arrives first to the vessel and is bathed in a very interesting and creative scene that includes strategically placed oranges. Matthew arrives a bit later and is shaved. Their rituals continue as they are prepped for, I'm assuming, some type of union. They wear elaborate mammal costumes that reflect the Japanese environment they're in. Bjork has such a headpiece on that I am surprised her neck didn't break while filming. The special effects of the film seem to blow Hollywood big budget movies out of the water. From the titles, to the Panic Room-like dolly through the kitchen through the keyhole shots, to the globs of blood that dance in the water near the end the effects are seamless and amazing. By the way for Bjork fans, the blood in the water reminded me of the Lynn Fox video for Nature is Ancient. More for Bjork Fans. Drawing Restraint 9 is nothing like Dancer In The Dark. Shot on 35 mm, the color is magical and contrasts against many of the backgrounds within the film. Bjork speaks only a few words within the film and it sounds like her native language. And, it doesn't leave you depressed for three weeks like Dancer does. Like I said before, the film is long and drawn out at times. But stick with it. The end is a huge pay off for anyone that enjoys a cryptic and extremely gory ending.

• Older Story Deeper Scar

  fred-7112006-04-19

  Last night I went to the movies; saw Drawing Restraint 9, a new film by Matthew Barney and featuring Bjork. I don't go to a lot of movies, but when I left this one I was convinced that I had not gone to a movie at all, but participated in an ancient magical rite having nothing to so with modern movie making. While definitely not a Hollywood feature, it was nevertheless described in the usual hyperbole put out by the theatrical machine conglomerates: "Mesmerizing Viewing, Amazingly Beautiful, Startling Wit and Invention." Of course it was all of the above, but what I saw and experienced in the movie theater was something more than that; something else altogether, the telling without words and reconstruction of an ancient primeval theater that can only be entered by instinct and non-human intelligence. Most of the action takes place aboard ship. On board a Japanese whaling vessel two occidental guests (Barney and Bjork) are invited aboard to share in a formal tea ceremony with the captain. First they are dressed in elaborate wedding clothes inspired by Shinto marriage rites, because after the ceremony they will emerge themselves in a kiss that not only unites the two in a limited matrimony, but also reunites them with the greater sea. I'm not even sure if this was a movie; perhaps it was an actual documentary constructed around the performance of some long forgotten ancient religious ritual, being remembered just now with the help of modern awareness that media affords, like the telescope aided Galileo in redefining the heavens. Yet I do not think the hundreds of "extras" were privy to any of this. And I should make it clear that the extras weren't really extras at all -- they were the actual crew members who live aboard ship. What Barney and Bjork have done, in my estimation, was commandeered the ship and held the captain and crew hostage -- with their permission of course, while pretending to star in a movie -- and then initiated the ancient rites recently remembered by the Icelandic Bjork. But of course the millions of dollars that this all must have cost would've produced one hell of a Hollywood blockbuster! Yet for Bjork and Barney it is an extremely limited engagement that will disappear within a week of its showing. For them the rewards will have been recognized instantly, not in box office dollars but in a newer awareness that an old universe continually demands of its inhabitants. The soundtrack is made of songs, chants and primeval sounds dispersed throughout the movie, which on another level act as incantations spoken directly to Nature, to reverse the direction of Art, specifically the Art of the Whaling Ship. This is hinted at when Bjork and Barney go through an amazing transformation at the close of the film, transforming themselves into whales, complete with blowholes, and return to the sea from which we were all plucked in our infancy. Further indication that this "movie" is really a magical rite in which we are all invited to take part is the captain's short telling of the history of the ship, how it suffered a slight scar at sea (being rammed by another ship), a scar which is now etched on the memory of the crew. "But there is a much older story within the deeper scar." The captain and his occidental guests tell that story to us, through the traditional Japanese tea ceremony wherein they drink of a mixture infused from of the "magnificent ambergris that was once passed through the whale" and the subsequent marriage vows by which the guests cut away superfluous limbs and prepare themselves for their voyage back to the sea, where ceremony once again takes on the fluidity of life. There are additional insights from Bjork's sparsely sung sound track. Utilizing the essential sounds from the ocean and the life in, around, and aboard the ship, she whispers in places the ancient formula of creation: From the moment of commitment, Nature conspires to help us. It is the old Christian aphorism, "All things are provided when we first seek the Kingdom of Heaven." Or Hell, if you prefer. In truth I believe this movie was conceived as ritual, performed by devout and honest people who were not acting (only accentuating and theatricalizing their normal activities) but ultimately redirecting the energies of nature towards the ending of a cruel and unusual punishment still being practiced on one of the great and magnificent life forms that welcomed us aboard in the first place. Possibly tedious at some points, I thought it was equally wonderful that Bjork and Matthew and the Captain and crew had so much leisure to be able to tell the story, to act in this way, to live for weeks or months on the ship and its legacy. But then, I'm a full time artist who has no idea what time it is. What was happening on the screen was only a key meant to unlock what has always been happening within us, within the deeper scar from which we all are naturally and continually emerging our being. Warning: Don't go see this movie with an audience who expected to go see a movie. Buy the DVD instead and follow the instructions, safely inside the privacy of your own home.

• Amazing!!!

  thomas-8352006-09-27

  It you are Japanese or know something about Japanese mythology and/or whaling culture in japan, then this movie will mean a lot more to you than others. I know most people who watch this movie will come out of the theater ferociously hating Matthew Barney and be turned off of modern art, but for me, this movie was grounded in ancient Japanese traditions. And to have witnessed it, even if it is bastardized from it's Japanese roots, is a fortunate event. I'll attempt to write the plot as I saw it. Barney and Bjork were invited onto the whaling vessel as guests. They begin their journey by transforming into sea spirits through several elaborate and beautiful (however long and confusing) ceremonies and rites of passages . This all happens while the whaling crew perform their duties on the symbolic whale. In the end the journey takes a gruesome turn and the transformation is complete. This is by no means an easy movie to sit through, be forewarned. However, I believe the value is in your furthered exploration into the subject of Japanese culture, ritual and mythology. Be sure to check out the exhibit at your local museum if it comes to your town. It is absolutely amazing to see.

• More a meditation than a film.

  illusionation2006-08-27

  I can appreciate what Barney is trying to achieve, but after sitting through this last night at a college movie house, I couldn't help but think...when is this gonna end? A very long and ponderous two hours and fifteen minutes. I had only seen a part of Cremaster 3 on DVD and thought I knew what to expect. That said, experimental films such as this are better digested in small increments. There are a couple of beautiful/horrible images...including the title sequence (no kidding), but if you go into this expecting any kind of plot or meaning, then you are in for a long, snooze-inducing ride. I managed to stay awake for the whole thing (if that's a compliment) but more often than not, I was waiting for some kind of meaning or narrative...big mistake. Among the collection of images are a very ornate gift-wrapping ceremony, the creation of a disgusting dish of what appears to be petroleum jelly slabs formed with a cookie cutter and sprinkled with shrimp (this is served to the crew of the ship which is shown throughout the film), a large blubber cheesecake with a large tentacle turd placed in the center of it, and the mutual evisceration of Bjork and director Matthew Barney which eventually culminates in some bizarre kind of communion, followed by their transformation into whale-like creatures. The soundtrack is at times beautiful and annoying...sometimes even maddening. At one time, there is a song being sung by Bjork to go along with the ephemeral rituals being played before us, and at other times there is just a constant droning of a high-pitched instrument, which we see a mysterious woman playing at the beginning and end of the movie. If this sounds like it doesn't make sense, that is because is DOESN'T! If this sounds like your cup of tea, then you will absolutely LOVE it! If this sounds like something that you probably won't like, then stay far away from it, because you will most likely walk out of the theater during the halfway mark like several people at the screening I attended. This is the very definition of an art film. You get from it what you take from it. But otherwise, there really isn't much there, other than a few oddities and constant construction and deconstruction rituals. I'm glad that there is a place for films such as this, but I can't say I would want to sit through it again. However, I can't say I wouldn't want to see one of Barney Cremaster films from start to finish and compare it with this. I think, perhaps now that I know what to expect I might enjoy something like this more. To give you an idea of what kind of comprehension factor this film has, I probably would've liked it better if I had gotten stoned. Then again, it could've felt twice as long as it was, and then it would've REALLY gotten ponderous. Definitely not for everyone.