Les Blank
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Southern Subjects
No shortage of talented musicians have appeared before Les Blank’s camera, their porch-strum music often laid over savory shots of local cuisine. Like the wind-blown grass Blank always finds time to include, the films undulate between revelry and reflection, while intangible rhythms of life are contoured by a musicality that exists not only in melody, but also in editing and observation. The richest take place in Cajun country Louisiana and rural Texas, where, between home cooking and the push-pull sounds of an accordion, Blank’s subjects unassumingly philosophize about the best ways to get through life and all its thorns. If […]
by Daniel Christian on Dec 10, 2019 -
To Not Be Crippled by Storytelling: Les Blank’s A Poem is a Naked Person
Early in Les Blank’s A Poem is a Naked Person, we see a shirtless, bearded man in cutoffs standing in an empty white pool nonchalantly scooping tiny scorpions into a mason jar with a piece of paper. At first, this action is underscored with “Take Me” by George Jones, carried over from the prior scene, which featured Jones playing in musician Leon Russell’s riverside Oklahoma recording studio. As the Jones song winds down we’re treated to the scorpion catcher’s musings on creativity, on how letting children draw on blank walls is sensible parenting, on how he’s made uncomfortable by prefabricated […]
by Jeff Reichert on Jul 1, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Les Blank’s A Poem is a Naked Person
Receiving its theatrical release 41 years after its completion, Les Blank’s A Poem Is A Naked Person is set to open at New York’s Film Forum on July 1, following its bows at BAMcinemaFest and SXSW. A portrait of singer-songwriter Leon Russell shot between 1972 and 1974, the film was the result of considerable release delays as a result of music clearance issues and creative differences between Blank and Russell. Check out the trailer above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 17, 2015
