Flaming Creatures (1963)

Directed by

Jack Smith

Genre

erotic film, vampire film, LGBTQ-related film

Country

United States

Runtime

43 min

Rating

4.7 of 10 from 61 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An experimental film from 1963 follows a group of drag performers through a series of disconnected scenes. They act out a lipstick commercial, an orgy, and an earthquake on a New York rooftop.

transgressivesurrealcampyfragmentedplayfulchaoticeroticdefiant

What happens

Flaming Creatures is a 1963 American experimental film directed by Jack Smith. The film follows an ensemble of drag performers through several disconnected vignettes, including a lipstick commercial, an orgy, and an earthquake. It was shot on a rooftop on the Lower East Side on a very low budget of only $300, with a soundtrack from Smith's roommate Tony Conrad. It premiered April 29, 1963, at the Bleecker Street Cinema in Greenwich Village. Because of the film's sexual content, some venues refused to show Flaming Creatures, and in March 1964, police interrupted a screening and seized a print of the film. The screening's organizers (Jonas Mekas, Ken Jacobs, and Florence Karpf) were prosecuted, and the film was ruled to be in violation of New York's obscenity laws. Mekas and critic Susan Sontag mounted a critical defense of Flaming Creatures, and it became a cause célèbre for the New American Cinema movement. Judge Abe Fortas, who had spoken in favor of reversing the convictions, faced scrutiny for his position years later when he was nominated to become Chief Justice of the United States. Flaming Creatures eventually fell out of circulation. After Smith's death, a restoration was undertaken to preserve the film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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