Grindhouse filmmaker Andy Milligan has been the subject of a revealing biography; and boasts a grassroots fan base; but his remarkable work has thus far received no serious critical overview. Working virtually alone; on infinitesimal budgets; often using a used 16mm newsreel camera; Milligan crafted some of the most unique melodramas of the 1960s and 1970s. Often mounted as period pieces; using costumes sewn by the filmmaker; Milliganrsquo;s gritty; bizarre films come across as inimitable meldings of the avant-garde theater of Jean Genet; the experimental films of Jack Smith; and the random cineacute;ma veacute;riteacute; of a lunatic with a home movie camera. Yet Milliganrsquo;s films are anything but random; ruminating at length on profound sociocultural themes of the day; including the emptiness of the sexual revolution. Evident throughout all the films are two pet themes: a rabid deconstruction of the heterosexual paradigm; and a grotesque illumination of the family as breeder of dysfunction.
#220459 in eBooks 2006-08-01 2006-08-01File Name: B00AR199YA
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. "Paying him back; day after day; for his pointless speeches..."By Luan GainesEssentially a monologue in two acts; the entire play consists of a one-sided conversation; in Act One a son addressing his now vacant-eyed father; who is daily deteriorating from Alzheimers. In the course of his visit to wash and groom his father; the son; Claude; 55; speaks his truth to his captive audience; an audience; however; that cannot react or respond to what is being said. Wheelchair-bound; Alex; 77; is accused as a bully; a boorish; drunken know-it-all; ever on the lookout for attention; his selfishness and destructive nature a burden for his now-dutiful son. A playwright; Claude draws on the words of a lifetime; hurt; disappointment; a helpless rage at being systematically ignored by his father: "I write crazy; badly constructed; wildly lyrical plays... and you cant even appreciate them or dismiss them... the way that you did with everything Ive ever written."The most startling revelation for Claude is that he needs his father alive to sustain the hatred that sparks his creativity; the words of his plays given birth from that one central core of rage; the driving force of his life. As long as his father lives; even as a vegetable; there is justification for the feelings that threaten to overwhelm him. Claude is afraid that if his father dies or he gives in to an incessant urge for forgiveness: "It will leave a hole in the heart of my being." Immediately following the momentary inclination to make peace; Claude is assailed by a powerful anger. In Act Two; the roles are reversed; Claude suffering from aphasia; his father; Alex; performing the same tasks; cleaning and grooming a lifeless body. In this monologue; the father rails against his sons unremitting selfishness; his sick need to wound by writing plays that attack him. Owning his infidelities and lack of warmth toward his wife and children; Alex comes as well to a moment of forgiveness; followed by consuming rage.Contrasting these points of view; the author exposes the miscommunications; disappointments and expectations of father and son; the perception of each skewed by personality and editorialized memory. But the likenesses are profound as well; the physical similarities; the need to bridge rancor and find a modicum of acceptance after a lifetime of enmity. In the ultimate piece de resistance; at the end of each act; the speaker returns quickly to the room; pulling the door open to see if the other is really faking his unavailability. This is a brilliant examination of a complicated relationship; fraught with dissonance and unfulfilled yearning. Luan Gaines/ 2006.