Drawing A Blank 9

ATTENTION! THIS POST REFERS TO MATTHEW BARNEY- CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!

Tonight I saw Drawing Restraint 9 Matthew Barney's latest film. A meditation on industrial whaling, Shinto rituals, flensing and Vaseline, in no particular order. But very mannered, one of a more artistic bent might even say restrained. It was worth it to see him interact with Björk, his lover and mother of their child. In the long list of legendary couples (David and Bathsheba, Romeo and Juliet, John and Yoko, Jagger and Bowie, etc...) these two have to be as close to a complementary ideal as any. The film itself was actually quite coherent (compared to The Cremaster Cycle), or else it was just me finally "getting it." Don't worry about it hogging the screens at your local multiplex, any art film with a climax of erotic mutilation/cannibalism won't make much of a commercial impact. I must admit, however, that I did enjoy it. In a restrained way.

P.S. The Vaseline was great!