Scorpio Rising
Directed by Kenneth Anger
Written by Ernest B. Glucksman
1963/USA
Puck Film Productions
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] [on unemployed filmmakers] It seems much easier for these people to rent my films, look at them and make notes, than to give them a job. — Kenneth Anger[/box]
By far the best part of this gay-Nazi-biker experimental short is the music.
Filmmaker Kenneth Anger made friends with some Brooklyn bikers and made this homo-erotic film. The bikers are shown fondling their bikes, provocatively dressing up in leather, and indulging in “party games”. There’s a lot of flashy cutting between these images and such things as a Lutheran Sunday School movie about the life of Christ.
Along with the film, there is a version with Kenneth Anger’s commentary on YouTube. I thought this was more interesting than the film itself. In it, the director claims that these guys came up with all this stuff themselves. He also implies that they did this in front of their girlfriends. I don’t believe it for a minute. On the other hand, the whole thing is accompanied by some great, lively hit songs of the early sixties. That’s the part I liked. Oh, and it’s less than half an hour long. Certainly missable.
