POETRY IN MOTION
Reviewed by Anne Kellas
This CD-ROM is based on a film which director / producer Ron Mann made
in the early '80s (Sphinx Productions, 1982). Footage for the movie
was taken from a marathon poetry reading at a New Year's benefit night
for the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church Ukrainian Hall in New York
City, and at various readings in Toronto.
Mann filmed over 85 poets and had 75 hours of material before he took
out the pruning shears. The CD seems very different in flavour to what
I remember of the film version, maybe because it was that long ago.
It's important to remember that Mann set out with the idea of making
a performance film, and not a poetry film - he doesn't intend to interpret
poetry. What he chose to include here is based primarily on the criterion
of how well the poets performed.
The poems occupy one half of the screen, and one has the choice of
viewing them as published on the printed page, or as they were performed
live. Often there is a discrepancy between the two, which is interesting
to see - as in the case of Anne Waldman's work. Many of the poems are
short - the longest is a poem by John Giorno who was the associate producer.
It was poet John Giorno who inspired Mann to make this movie - 'His
effect on me was like coffee and cigarettes,' said Mann.
It's a pity that only a quarter of the performers on this CD are women
- I think that's perhaps more because of the type of poetry that inspired
Mann in the first place rather than anything deliberate. The collection
is overwhelmingly representative of the Beats and the New York School
- and there never were many women poets involved in those movements
alas. I am puzzled that Patti Smith is not included here.
Among the famous on this CD you'll find Beat poets - for instance Gary
Snyder, Ed Sanders, William Burroughs, Diane DiPrima, and Allen Ginsberg
- as well as stalwarts of the New York school like Ted Berrigan and
Kenward Elmslie. Also included among the 24 are Charles Bukowsky, John
Cage and Robert Creeley, and there are also some surprises like Michael
Ondaatje and Tom Waits. A wild chaotic groan from the Canadian sound-poetry
performance group, The Four Horsemen, brings bpNichol into the picture.
with Paul Dutton, Steve McCaffery and Raphael Barreto Riveis.
The CD is basically a HyperCard stack with sound added and it's an
excellent concept - it's just that when it comes to reading poetry I
think I like to hold it in my hands and not read it cold off a screen.
For me the poets come to life jerkily in a QuickTime display in a corner
of the screen, briefly recite their poem or say a few words in an interview,
and then sink back into place in their picture frame once the spoken
word goes quiet. Nothing happens without the reader clicking back and
forward on the 'contents' button - I think I prefer the interactivity
of sitting back in a cinema and letting the movie carry me away!
Poetry in Motion would serve as a wonderful introduction to the world
of these poets, and certainly gives a taste of the range of their styles
and talents.
Review by Anne Kellas
