User Reviews

This experimental documentary style film is a combination of five short films, a prelude and four parts, and has been listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You, that's the only reason I watched it to be honest. The five short films mainly consist of various images and colours that appear in quick rushing flashes, along with grainy and static flashes, there is no plot, there is no real subject matter, and there is absolutely no sound or music. The only remnants of content that could be classified as some sort of story, or point to the film, is footage of a bearded man in a murky, snowy landscape, in a forest on a mountain, climbing up from the woodland with his dog, hence the title. The man is seen stumbling up with the dog following, rolling in the snow, stopping with an axe to cut down some trees, struggling with his surroundings, chopping the wood and having a fire, and his blood flowing. Besides this, the flashing images are occasional long shots and things too close up to distinguish, as well as the camera zooming in and out, twisting and turning, sideways and shaking, and footage playing in slow motion and in reverse. The random flashes of footage seen throughout, besides the grainy scattering dots and static bits, include: a head of hair, flames, eyes closed, the moon and clouds, trees, solar flares of the Sun, car lights on a dark road, neon signs, a woman's breasts, rocks, a beating heart, the face of a man, a girl smiling or laughing, an old man with a beard lying down, a mention in words of the Solar photography from High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, clouds going across the sky and the forest, someone rolling on the floor, a waterfall, snow dropping (almost an avalanche), blood cells, wet fleshy things, a baby in a cot, the face of a woman, a man without a shirt, stained glass windows of a church, a lactating nipple and a small village covered in snow. Director Stan Brakhage made his career making non-narrative films, this is obviously his most recognised work, specifically by the National Film Registry, and is considered a masterpiece, in my opinion is certainly something different, a film with no soundtrack whatsoever and no real point, just a man and his dog among many random flashes of things, it's not the sort of thing I'd watch more than once, but I can understand why some would recommend it, it is an interesting experimental film. Worth watching!