THE FILMS OF WARREN SONBERT
Filmmaker WARREN SONBERT
Warren Sonbert was one of the seminal figures working in American experimental film. He started making films in 1966 while a student at New York University, and before he was 20 years old, his first career retrospective drew the attention of the film critic for the commercial trade journal Variety, who wrote that “Probably not since Andy Warhol’s The Chelsea Girls had its first showing at the Cinematheque... almost a year and a half ago has an ‘underground’ film event caused as much curiosity and interest in N.Y.’s non-underground world as did four days of showings of the complete films of Warren Sonbert at the Cinematheque’s new location on Wooster St.”
The Estate of Warren Sonbert has previously named GME as the custodian of the legacy of experimental filmmaker Warren Sonbert (1947-1995). Since Sonbert’s untimely passing, GME has worked on an extensive project to preserve, distribute and curate career retrospectives of his films on an international basis, as well as publish original documents from the paper archive of his writings, which are now housed at Harvard University, and reprinted in a special issue of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media.
GME distributes HD DSL downloads of the following films:
AMPHETAMINE
Warren Sonbert and Wendy Appel (US)
The film focuses on a party of drugs and sex – young men with a deadpan expression injecting amphetamines. Sonbert shows it in a very detailed and meticulous way that makes the viewer almost feel the pain physically, while the joyful pop music creates a counterpoint that adds a playful aspects to these scenes. In this film, Sonbert pays tribute to VERTIGO (1958) with its spiral and circular motifs.
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Warren Sonbert (US)
One of the most profound themes coursing through Sonbert’s work is that of love between couples in all its pitfalls and perfect moments. To express this theme, Sonbert employed diverse cinematic strategies. These include in-camera editing (in THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL,1967), twin-screen effects (in two “lost” films -- CONNECTION and TED AND JESSICA -- also both from 1967), and montage sequences (beginning with TUXEDO THEATRE, 1969).
HALL OF MIRRORS
Warren Sonbert (US)
This film is an outgrowth of one of Sonbert’s film classes at NYU taught by Carl Lerner, the editor of (among other films)12 ANGRY MEN (1957), and REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962). Sonbert was provided with outtakes from a Hollywood film photographed by Hal Mohr to re-edit into a narrative sequence. One can conjecture that Sonbert’s early contact with Carl Lerner in the editing sphere may have influenced his later evolution into the silent montage films he made beginning with TUXEDO THEATRE (1969) and CARRIAGE TRADE (1972).
THE TENTH LEGION
Warren Sonbert (US)
In THE TENTH LEGION, Sonbert presents his college age friends at work and play, wandering the streets of NYC, lounging, shopping, and posing for the camera. The film stylistically exemplifies Sonbert’s masterful use of a constantly moving hand-held camera as it trails the teenage protagonists in choreographed fashion, and of chiaroscuro lighting effects in interior scenes
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?
Warren Sonbert (US)
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? is an homage to the artistic and social milieu of New York City in the 1960s, as portrayed by the youthful protagonists in the film. Sonbert chronicles his friends and colleagues at the Janis and Castelli galleries, MoMA, Warhol’s Factory, the Bleecker Street Cinema, a rock concert, shopping, dancing, partying, and simply hanging out.
GME is pleased to announce that all of Sonbert’s montage films will become available for institutional acquisition and rental in 2024.