Jackie Raynal
The Man who envied women
1985 – 125’ – USA
- Director: Yvonne Rainer
- Cast: William Raymond, Larry Loonin, Trisha Brown, Jackie Raynal
- Distribution: zeitgeistfilms
[EN] Comedy. In an avant-garde attempt to explore widely disparate, unconnected subjects dealing with topics as diverse as sex, a broken marriage, artists’ housing in New York, and Central American politics, director Yvonne Rainer meanders through a lot of philosophical and rhetorical territory. In the end, the voyage may be too much for most viewers, although certain segments of the film stand out as quite successful.
Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Buy the film: zeitgeistfilms.com
Yvonne Rainer
[EN] Dancer and avant-garde filmmaker Yvonne Rainer was a part of the New York minmalist/structural movement of the ’70s. Like many experimental filmmakers, Ranier avoids the traditional Hollywood concept of straightforward storytelling, however, as she is deeply interested in human relationships, she does inform her films with some narrative structures. Her films also exhibit her post-Modernist concerns, utilizing a variety of art and media forms to create a multi-layered series of images and texts. Prior to becoming a director, Ranier had been a dancer, studying during the ’50s under Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. In 1962, she and Steve Paxton co-founded the Judson Dance Workshop in New York. She then became a prominent figure in dance. By 1968, she had begun to mix live performances with slides and short films. This integration of media provided the basis for her first feature film, Lives of Performers (1972). She has been steadily making films since 1975.
Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
