Pronounced as “symbio-psycho-taxi-plasm,” William Greaves’s 1968 film is as mind-melding as its title suggests. It is a defining work of avant-garde cinema. Before Alejandro Jodorowsky acknowledged the fourth wall of the cinema, Greaves’s hybrid film did that tenfold. Greaves blurs the line between what is truth and fiction in a documentary.
This film perfectly reflects the 1960s, which was a decade of protest and experimentation. Everything was being questioned, from the need to go to war, the worshipping of politicians, and gender roles, among other issues. New never-before-seen silhouettes came out of the fashion world and never-before-heard sounds erupted from the experimentation of electronic synthesizers. The world of cinema was no different.
In New York City around this time, there was a whole group of filmmakers creating experimental films in a scene frequented by the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Filmmakers like Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, and so much more explored the boundaries of filmmaking. They questioned whether film needs to be shot with a camera, if the camera needs to move, whether there can be one subject, the length of the project and if it matters whether people watch the film in its entirety.
These questions led to some of the most infamous films in the avant-garde canon. Brakhage made “Mothlight,” a film composed entirely of stills created by pressing moth wings, leaves and other organic materials between two strips of tape. Andy Warhol also made “Empire,” which was composed of a singular shot focusing on the Empire state building for eight hours and five minutes.
Now, enter “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm.” It’s as trippy and elusive as one would expect a late 1960s film to be.
The film is a documentary of Greaves conducting screen tests in Central Park.. He works with different pairs of actors, instructing them for the camera. Meanwhile, he also directs the documentary crew following him as well on what to shoot and what to look for. This is not a behind-the-scenes fly-on-the-wall documentary like one would imagine. Instead, the substance of the film comes from its exploration of all the questions that are asked.
If viewers found Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” confusing, it would not be advised to watch this film. Even among fans of the avant-garde film scene, it is polarizing. For 75 minutes, its 16-millimeter hand-held footage disorients viewers. Multiple angles of the same scene play all at once. And the soundtrack, composed by Miles Davis, only adds to this feeling.
Fans of Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow” may be more inclined to watch this as its playfulness and mystery appeals to the more academic side of art.
Verdict: Though not considered a must-see in the avant-garde film world, “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm” really ought to be. As Black History Month soon comes to a close, check out this underrated trail-blazing experiment!
