I have been eager to see some of Marie Menken's many experimental films for a while now and I decided to finally watch her 1961 work "Arabesque for Kenneth Anger", a brief short that, for some reason, I hadn't gotten to watching yet until just a few minutes ago. I mainly chose it because the great Kenneth Anger's name is in the title, although I'm not exactly sure why that is since this doesn't feel like a tribute to his work and I cannot really see any other hypothetical reason for his name to be included in the title. I'll probably have to do some research a little later, because, other than this being an experimental and plot less film, "Arabesque for Kenneth Anger" has pretty much nothing to do with Kenneth Anger, and it is nowhere near as good as any of Anger's films either. Don't get me wrong, it's an okay little film if you're into avant garde cinema, but it is, essentially, just your standard experimental affair. There are some beautiful visuals, some messy ones, some nauseating ones, some unique ones, and then it just kind of ends. There is nothing remotely resembling any plot or structure here, it's completely abstract and far removed from the bounds of mainstream cinema, so obviously not everyone is going to enjoy it, but it's short enough to avoid tediousness for practically any audience, and it's worth a watch if you're interested enough, although you could skip it even if you're a huge fan of avant garde cinema and not have missed out on much.
