‘Hallelujah!’ Reveals the Force of Athey

It’s hard to think of anyone who puts the redemptive power of art to the test more severely than performance artist Ron Athey, who works out his Pentecostal upbringing, his former heroin addiction, his homosexuality and his HIV status in increasingly elaborate--and increasingly meaningful--tableaux vivants in which sadomasochistic practices act as a force of liberation from society’s oppressiveness and also from the fear of death.

Catherine Gund Saalfield’s absorbing 90-minute “Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance” offers a strong insight into why Athey has become a vital cultural force. Saalfield interviews not only Athey but also members of his large troupe, who are as much outsiders as he is.

The film includes generous portions of the troupe in performance in such far-flung locales as Mexico City and Zagreb, where Athey’s “Deliverance,” a deeply moving coming to terms with death, was presented--and which may be too expensive ever to be staged again anywhere. (It is the concluding segment of Athey’s trilogy, which includes “Martyrs and Saints” and “Four Scenes in a Harsh Life,” portions of which are also shown.)

Athey is a chunky man of 36 who has covered much of his body with striking tattoos, as have many of his colleagues. Athey explains his urge to perform grew out of his love of dancing in clubs and it started to find expression once he discovered seminal performance artist Johanna Went.

What Athey does is to evoke some of the harsher Christian iconography and infuses it with ceremonial body piercing and modifications, sometimes involving sex and bodily functions and much of which is surely too strong for many audiences. He incorporates dramatic vignettes, dance and movement that results in spectacles as powerful, for example, as the Living Theater’s famous “Frankenstein.”

At this stage of his artistic development Athey creates tableaux vivants as rich in texture and detail as those in the films of Sergei Paradjanov. What Athey has become is an exorcist, taking on the demons of drugs, homophobia, fear of AIDS, racism and the degradation of women, and his vision has become strong enough to transcend the repulsion most of us surely feel in regard to sadomasochism. As one of his colleagues so aptly defines his work: “They’re rituals of identity and freedom.”

* Unrated. Times guidelines: suitable for open-minded adults only; nudity, some sex, considerable depiction of sadomasochistic practices.

‘Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance’

An Artistic License Films release. Writer-producer-director-cinematographer Catherine Gund Saalfield, in collaboration with Ron Athey. Editor Aljernon Tunsil. Music: Violin accompaniment written and performed by Julie Fowells; Athey Trilogy Soundtrack written and performed by Drance. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Exclusively at the Grande 4-Plex through Thursday, 345 S. Figueroa St., downtown Los Angeles, (213) 617-0268.