Brandy in the Wilderness

Description

In his many lives, Stanton Kaye has run tech-sector startups, post-production facilities for low-budget filmmakers and even washed dishes at Chez Panisse. But before all of that, he was one of the brightest lights of the American independent cinema that flourished in the 1960s, fueled by the work of directors like John Cassavetes, Morris Engel and Jim McBride. Released in 1969, Kaye’s second feature, Brandy in the Wilderness, is a dazzling film à clef made in partnership with Kaye’s then-girlfriend Michaux French (later a noted film academic and psychoanalyst). Both Kaye and French appear onscreen as barely veiled versions of themselves: his Simon Weiss is an aspiring filmmaker with an acclaimed avant-garde short behind him, now creatively paralyzed by that early success; her Brandy is a neurotic advertising copywriter who asks Simon to direct a film about her life. Brandy was itself instigated by similar means, and as the movie winds its way from New York to LA (with pit stops in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Nevada along the way), the line between real and reel life becomes ever more tenuous. We see the events twice, once from each character’s p.o.v., complete with dueling voiceover narrations (Gone Girl, avant la lettre) and an inspired grab-bag of montage effects. The results suggest an American Breathless by way of Annie Hall. Now, after many years in the cinematic wilderness, Brandy has been beautifully restored from the original 16mm negative, and a masterpiece of the American new wave stands to be noted. —Scott Foundas

This film is presented in collaboration with the Telluride Film Festival. 35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation.

Film Details