Reviews

One of the funniest and strangest films about the film-making process, this is less an adaptation of the novel, more a focused and hilarious deconstruction on Winterbottom's working methods. Coogan and Brydon are fantastic. The scene with Coogan and a hot chestnut down his trousers is worth the price of admission alone! Although the film may not be to everyone's taste - it darts around and has little respect for narrative logic or continuity (as does the book), it is a freeform little gem that really does cement Winterbottom's reputation as the most exciting British director out there. Any person who can make In This World, Code 46, 9 Songs and then this in a row is worthy of respect.

The previous reviewer obviously had no comprehension or understanding of this gloriously complex and evocative film. Cremaster 3 not only expands on themes and references explored in the previous four films but takes Barney's magical and hermetically sealed universe to new heights. The first half of the film takes place in a reconstruction of the Chrysler building, where the gender-transformed body of Gary Gilmore is unearthed and placed inside a classic chrysler car and destroyed by a fleet of other chryslers in a ritualistic demolition derby. Barney meanwhile scales the liftshaft of the building, filling one of the lifts with mud, eventually arriving at the exclusive Cloud Club where a group of masonic henchmen drink guinness. Meanwhile a mysterious woman slices potatoes with blades attached to her shoes. The second half of the film takes place in the Guggenheim museum where the levels of the museum are transformed into strange transmissions of all the previous films. Barney scales the levels of the museum interacting with the players on the different levels. On the final level is Richard Serra, recreating his famous thrown lead sculptures with melted vaseline.... Yes - it is weird, but wonderfully so. Barney is no doubt one of the most important contemporary artists around and Cremaster 3 is the final, remarkably assured piece of a puzzle that has excited and beguiled for the last 8 years and forces us to reinterpret the boundries between cinema, sculpture and performance art. A masterpiece!