User Score
6 votes
A 16mm anthology of experimental super 8 films by Derek Jarman, Michael Kostiff, Cerith Wyn Evans and John Maybury, with framing footage by Tim Burke of Brion Gysin using a dream machine. Jarman's contribution is a version of his 1977 Art and the Pose (aka Arty the Pose), refilmed at 3fps, with a musical soundtrack. Jarman planned The Dream Machine as a commemoration of William Burroughs and Gysin's 1982 visit to the UK, and received initial funding from the Arts Council in 1983, then rethought the project as a portmanteau film featuring Gysin alone. The production remained in limbo until 1986, when James Mackay obtained completion funding from the British Film Institute. (Since this film was released on VHS accompanied by Jarman's Broken English: Three Songs by Marianne Faithfull, T.G.: Psychic Rally in Heaven and Pirate Tape under the umbrella title The Dream Machine, synopses of this film have often muddled up its details with those of the earlier films. )
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
At six, Dario watched the first Moon landing on TV, sparking a lifelong dream to reach the stars. For the rest of his life, the ingenious curmudgeon built a homemade space rocket on his farm using scraps from the local hardware store. But, after a disastrous first launch burns down the neighbors' cornfields, Dario lands in jail. Enter Mario, his estranged brother who left the dying countryside for the big city: despite the confusion, he agrees to help Italy's 'secret space program' finally take off.
