Repurposing as an art form

By Robert Abele

Dec. 7, 2006 12 AM PT

Special to The Times

EXPERIMENTAL video artist William E. Jones’ fascination with the sociological and psychological shadings in the nongraphic moments of gay pornography continues with his latest work, which L.A. Filmforum will show Sunday night at the Egyptian Theater.

One extraordinary result of his obsession, the 59-minute “v.o.,” is nothing less than cinematic repurposing as anthropological awakening. Jones has taken to laying a soundtrack of romantically moody or baldly political voice-overs from European films (by the likes of Jean Renoir, Luis Bunuel and avant-garde German Werner Schroeter) over a montage of pre- and post-coital scenes from ‘70s- and ‘80s-era gay adult films.

There are inevitably more than a few time-capsule titters to be had from the archival moments -- feathered hair, tight clothes, and Jones even opens with one old film’s pizza-delivery moment, as if to get that cliche out of the way. But what lingers, besides the suggestive glances of hustlers and pleasure-seekers, is a textured, melancholic skimming of worlds long past, whether they’re Los Angeles streets, New York subways or the closet, medicine cabinet, record collection and mover’s box of a gay man circa 1975 leaving his lover.

What’s changed may be AIDS; what hasn’t is the pursuit of desire, and the loneliness that can engender. By removing the sex and adding a sometimes disjointed, sometimes eerily compatible multilingual narration of introspection and longing, Jones seems to create a fresh film language of memory, nostalgia and background-as-foreground. And if the whole enterprise is reminiscent of Thom Andersen’s found-film-generated docu-essay “Los Angeles Plays Itself,” it should be noted that not only is Andersen’s title taken from an early ‘70s gay porn film that Jones samples for “v.o.,” but there’s also a CalArts connection between these two artists as well. Andersen will, in fact, be at the screening to introduce Jones, who will also show two new shorts, “More British Sounds” and “Film Montages (for Peter Roehr).”

So, ‘What Is It?’

Three days of Egyptian Theatre screenings of actor-artist-oddball pop culture character Crispin Hellion Glover’s directorial debut may not get any closer to answering the question posed by its title: “What Is It?” But if a few dispiriting ventures into the multiplex put you in the mood for a dose of structure-deficient, surrealist provocation, you could do worse. (Each screening is paired with Glover hosting an hourlong slide show featuring pages from his culty art books.)

Prepare yourself, then, for a cast of mostly people with Down’s syndrome, a naked man with cerebral palsy in a giant clamshell, Shirley Temple iconography, blackface, swastikas and clinical close-ups of the fatal effects of vigorously applied salt on snails. One can only assume amid all the graphic provocation (some violent, some NC-17 sexual) that the silken, luxurious coat wrapped around Glover as he plays the princely ruler of the strangeness around him is -- could it be? -- real fur. Intended to jolt audiences out of a perhaps ingrained attitude that cinema must tell us what to think, the truth is that Glover’s arty, handmade opus rarely is thought-provoking or disturbing, and more often betrays its creator’s outcast romantic heart rather than any culture-deconstructing intellect.

So while a film camera capturing two Down’s syndrome actors sharing a tender kiss on the grass may carry a tinge of the socially radical, the incessant snail death just feels like so much schlock value. But if you find yourself onboard for Glover’s particular brand of bizarre, you can head for Sundance in January, where Part 2 of a planned trilogy will get its first exposure. It’s unclear, yet, whether nature lovers have more to worry about.

Latina filmmakers

Also Friday through Sunday is the second annual Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza, hosted by the art space Casa 0101 and showcasing documentaries, narrative films, experimental work and erotica by Latina filmmakers from across the country.

Three generations of female Salvadoran poets are the subjects of Sara Aguilar’s short doc “Palabras Sin Fronteras,” which through interviews gives an inspirational glimpse at how violence-torn El Salvador spurred a trio of women, now living in Los Angeles, to take up not only direct political activism but also the artful and sometimes more vivid mode of verse to effect social change.

Filmmaker Iris Almaraz turns a poetic eye, on the other hand, toward women’s roles in society with her short drama “La Puta,” which chronicles with humor and romantic melancholia the unlikely and ultimately empowering friendship between an emotionally roiling young girl (Marisol Sacramento) in a border town and a cheeky, wise prostitute (Cristina Nava).

Also on the bill is the documentary “Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano,” about the Mexican musician, with producer Nancy De Los Santos in attendance for a Q&A.;

weekend@latimes.com

Screenings

L.A. Filmforum

* “v.o.,” “More British Sounds” and “Film Montages (for Peter Roehr)”: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: www.lafilmforum.org

American Cinematheque

* “What Is It?” with “Big Slide Show”: 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-3456, americancinematheque.com

Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza

* “Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano”: 2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday