If you can judge a work of art by its fans, then "Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 1," William Greaves' 1968 "documentary" about the making of a film in New York's Central Park has a lot going for it.
Among the many devotees of Greaves' work are Steven Soderburgh who has restored the film and is sending it out onto the theater circuit for the first time, and Steve Buscemi, who makes a few appearances in the new follow-up, "Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2." Buscemi and Soderburgh were executive producers of the second film.
Both films arrive at UWM's Union Theater this month. The first screened last weekend but is reprised this weekend in a double feature with its sequel. Take one screens at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16 and the second work shows at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17. The director, Greaves, will make an appearance at the Thursday screening. On Tuesday, UWM screens Jim McBride's 1967 film, "David Holzman's Diary," a film selected personally by Greaves. Admission to all screenings is free.
Greaves, a long-standing member of the respected Actors Studio, has made more than 200 documentaries, many of which have garnered him international awards. He began his career in the '40s alongside the likes of Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger and Shelley Winters.
His 1968 film is ostensibly a documentary about the filming of some screen tests for a feature film in Central Park. But it's a ploy, because instead there was no film and Greaves' crew was also filming passersby, crew members and others, offering a glimpse into the creative process and the ways it intersects with the outside world during location filming.
"I was interested in these films in the way one is interested in the great unseen: works extolled as landmark that never circulate," says Carl Bogner of UWM's film department, who was instrumental in organizing the screenings. "And 'Symbiopsychotaxiplasm' testified to a different relation with filmmaking, a form or experiment that sounded mad and revelatory. A film that wanted to destabilize the process and maybe one's relationship to the image they are watching. And for sure the first one -- made in 1968 -- seemed emblematic of its era: rabble rousing (and) anti-authoritarian in content and in form.
"And also Greaves' entire career is a remarkable one, the kind that slips through the cracks because of his form (documentary), its emphasis -- African-American history, experience -- or experimental form, in the case of his anomalous 'Symbiopsychotaxiplasm' projects. It will be great to be able to have him here to share some of his history."
One reviewer accurately described the film as, "a witty, still-timely and extraordinary satire on filmmaking theory and technique." Another said, when it was made, that the film was, "too advanced in its approach and won't be understood before 30 or 40 years."
"Take 2 1/2" draws on footage from 1968 and 2003 and reunites the director with a pair of actors from the first film. It also sets up new situations that continue the experience of the 1968 film.
Engrossing and interesting, the two "Symbiopsychotaxiplasm" films are not to be missed. And, more importantly, a visit by a landmark filmmaker is a rare occurrence in Milwaukee.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
