Out of The Spell of R. Bruce Elder's Films

The last time I ever saw R. Bruce Elder, or communicated with him, was about three years after I left (quit) my program in Ryerson University.

After my departure, I still went to Elder's "soirees," monthly events where he would bring together the artistic community in Toronto that had befriended him or followed his work. Sometimes we would have American or European visitors. I met Stan Brakhage there, although by then I was ready to ask questions, and I asked Brakhage why he never showed us clear and articulate images, to which he gave me no answer, or some reply that really don't remember.

I...criticized the big and formidable Stan [Brakhage] during one of his visits to Toronto, in Bruce's home, where I was a member of his "round table" group of students, faculty and artists (we met about once a week for drinks and discussions). My question to Stan [Brakhage] was similar in stance to the one I asked Bruce [Elder], of why he was destroying the image. Stan [Brakhage], for a few brief moments, didn't know what to say. I think he deflected the question and talked about something else.
[Source:Reclaiming Beauty: Destroying the Image]

I heard about this from Elder, since by then I was one of his prime "former" students, who said in a somewhat disappointed tone: "So you were asking Stan some questions."

All in all, the new Twin Peaks reminded me of the experience of watching Stan Brakhage’s experimental films projected in a small Brooklyn cinema a few years ago as they were meant to be seen: in silent 16mm, with two projectors going at once and no music, unless you counted the rhythmic, faintly Lynchian industrial noise created by the projectors running in tandem. Brakhage was a filmmaker who did in-camera superimpositions, scratched and drew on the film, and did all sorts of other things to create ribbons of abstraction that told implied stories (sometimes about his own life, sometimes about the life of the species) through mythological and hallucinatory imagery. The turnout was quite good: 50, maybe 60 people. Half the audience walked out at the first intermission, and by the end there were maybe a dozen of us left. It was one of the most profound moviegoing experiences I’ve ever had, though whether I would’ve been able to sit through all four hours of it without assistance from pot brownies is an open question. I bet Stan Brakhage would have liked the new Twin Peaks. I also bet that the majority of people tuning into the new Twin Peaks don’t want the 2017 equivalent of a Stan Brakhage film for TV. The joke’s on them, or on me, or maybe it’s on Lynch; I don’t know. The owls are not what they seem. [Source: Twin Peaks: The Return Is Riveting, Horrifying, and Patience-Taxing

Much later on about a year later, I attended a community program which had invited Elder to speak about his films. there I asked the very same question that I had asked Brakhage and for which I had received no answer. I actually didn't expect an answer this time. I just wanted to present that "concept" in a group of people who clearly were enamoured with Elder.

The answer?

"Let me just finish this point."

Elder finished his point but never got to mine.

I left the lecture as things were wrapping up but before the moderator called it over.

I saw (or heard) Elder once after that at a Toronto Film Festival screening. I still think fim is an art, and there are some beautiful works to watch.

I could hear Elder talking behind me.

I watched the film and never turned back.

I left as the credits were rolling.