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No. 18: Mahagonny

09/13/1980

|

2hrs 21min

|

Drama

STORY

Harry Smith’s final film; an epic four-screen projection. Smith worked on this cinematic transformation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1929) for over ten years and considered it his magnum opus. The film was shot from 1970 to 1972 and edited for the next eight years. The “program” of the film is meticulous, with a complex structure and order. The Weill opera is transformed into a numerological and symbolic system. Images in the film are divided into categories— portraits, animation, symbols and nature— to form the palindrome P.A.S.A.N.A.S.A.P. The film contains invaluable cameos of important avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Jonas Mekas, intercut with installation pieces from Robert Mapplethorpe’s studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith’s visionary animation.

CAST & CREW

    Cast

  • Patti Smith
  • Allen Ginsberg
  • Lotte Lenya
  • Jonas Mekas
  • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Director

  • Harry Smith

INFORMATION

    Production Companies

  • Harry Smith Film

    Production Countries

  • United States of America

LANGUAGES

  • English

Cast

Patti Smith

Self

Allen Ginsberg

Self

Lotte Lenya

Self (voice)

Robert Mapplethorpe

Self

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