Not the first or last film/TV project about the yearly Burning Man gathering in northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert, this accomplished and invigorating documentary by debut filmmaker Alex Nohe is both strengthened and hindered by its agenda, which is to approach the wild weeklong event as a one-of-a-kind art happening.
Unveiled for an eager audience at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) International Film Festival as a "work in progress," with temporary titles and undergoing minor fine-tuning, "Burning Man: The Burning Sensation" has the potential to draw hefty college-age audiences in major markets and select-site bookings, while cable and other ancillary venues look promising.
Although there is plenty of incredible material about the bizarre creations, and the people that go with them -- most of "Sensation" was filmed at the 1999 Burning Man -- one is not treated to an overall portrait of the event, like that in the granddaddy of counterculture cinemascapes, the Oscar-winning "Woodstock".
Other films and filmmakers may delve more fully (and exploitatively) into what all those naked revelers do when they aren't dancing around something blowing up or on fire, but "Sensation" is a stunning introduction to the Burning Man phenomenon. It's also going to be of little interest to the comfort-loving multitudes who would never get past the basic bring-your-own-everything requirements and harsh physical conditions.
Still, for those extreme of heart no matter how old, the 17-year-old Burning Man project, co-founded and directed by Larry Harvey, is made to look like a lot more like fun than hardship, even if one is expected to "participate" because the events have "no spectators." Perhaps more than bringing unwanted attention to this big, exclusive party for unclad, jinn-for-a-week daredevils, the film may help inspire other paganistic gatherings.
What goes on in a temporary city of 24,000 when the temperature goes way above 100 degrees, the winds blow and everyone gets down to the serious task of expressing themselves? One group of guys claims to have Anthony Quinn's stuffed horse from "Lawrence of Arabia". It gets torched. Another group stages a full-on hedonistic frolic at night with a "golden calf." Dozens of topless women on bicycles, with their breasts painted and adorned, ride around one day in an ensemble work dubbed "Angry Tits".
The finale is the destruction of a 50-foot-high sculpture that includes pyrotechnics in a ceremony straight out of a barbaric version of the Olympics. Naked and goddess-like, event performance coordinator Crimson Rose is The High Priestess who sets off the Burning Man, a very sophisticatedly engineered and awesome spectacle that has a primal fascination.
While, overall, Nohe (programming director for IFP/West and a native Kansan) and his crew show us startling imagery, and some fairly articulate participants explain their art pieces, "The Burning Sensation" feels occasionally unfocused. But it is successful in capturing what appears to be the upbeat mood and ultra-tolerant attitude of the mostly white twentysomething adventurers who are lured to and nourished by the peacefully chaotic atmosphere
BURNING MAN: THE BURNING SENSATION
Director: Alex Nohe
Producers: Alex Nohe, Alan Roberts
Cinematographers: Alex Nohe, Pilar Otero,
David Smith, Chris Stong, Ted Trost
Editors: James Frisa, Alex Nohe
Color/stereo
With: Larry Harvey, Crimson Rose, Will Roger
Running time -- 73 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Unveiled for an eager audience at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) International Film Festival as a "work in progress," with temporary titles and undergoing minor fine-tuning, "Burning Man: The Burning Sensation" has the potential to draw hefty college-age audiences in major markets and select-site bookings, while cable and other ancillary venues look promising.
Although there is plenty of incredible material about the bizarre creations, and the people that go with them -- most of "Sensation" was filmed at the 1999 Burning Man -- one is not treated to an overall portrait of the event, like that in the granddaddy of counterculture cinemascapes, the Oscar-winning "Woodstock".
Other films and filmmakers may delve more fully (and exploitatively) into what all those naked revelers do when they aren't dancing around something blowing up or on fire, but "Sensation" is a stunning introduction to the Burning Man phenomenon. It's also going to be of little interest to the comfort-loving multitudes who would never get past the basic bring-your-own-everything requirements and harsh physical conditions.
Still, for those extreme of heart no matter how old, the 17-year-old Burning Man project, co-founded and directed by Larry Harvey, is made to look like a lot more like fun than hardship, even if one is expected to "participate" because the events have "no spectators." Perhaps more than bringing unwanted attention to this big, exclusive party for unclad, jinn-for-a-week daredevils, the film may help inspire other paganistic gatherings.
What goes on in a temporary city of 24,000 when the temperature goes way above 100 degrees, the winds blow and everyone gets down to the serious task of expressing themselves? One group of guys claims to have Anthony Quinn's stuffed horse from "Lawrence of Arabia". It gets torched. Another group stages a full-on hedonistic frolic at night with a "golden calf." Dozens of topless women on bicycles, with their breasts painted and adorned, ride around one day in an ensemble work dubbed "Angry Tits".
The finale is the destruction of a 50-foot-high sculpture that includes pyrotechnics in a ceremony straight out of a barbaric version of the Olympics. Naked and goddess-like, event performance coordinator Crimson Rose is The High Priestess who sets off the Burning Man, a very sophisticatedly engineered and awesome spectacle that has a primal fascination.
While, overall, Nohe (programming director for IFP/West and a native Kansan) and his crew show us startling imagery, and some fairly articulate participants explain their art pieces, "The Burning Sensation" feels occasionally unfocused. But it is successful in capturing what appears to be the upbeat mood and ultra-tolerant attitude of the mostly white twentysomething adventurers who are lured to and nourished by the peacefully chaotic atmosphere
BURNING MAN: THE BURNING SENSATION
Director: Alex Nohe
Producers: Alex Nohe, Alan Roberts
Cinematographers: Alex Nohe, Pilar Otero,
David Smith, Chris Stong, Ted Trost
Editors: James Frisa, Alex Nohe
Color/stereo
With: Larry Harvey, Crimson Rose, Will Roger
Running time -- 73 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 4/28/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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