Glaze of Cathexis

Glaze of Cathexis (1990)

*** (out of 4)

This Brakhage short runs exactly three minutes and once again features all sorts of strange colors, shapes and objects. I guess the best way to describe this film is as an acid trip meant to give your eyes a real ride. Even though I'm new to this director I can picture many people watching this film and asking what the point of it is and I wouldn't have a good answer for them because I'm not even sure what the point of the movie is. Even with that said, the film drew me in with its strangeness and not once did I get bored even though we're seeing the same type of thing over and over.

One of Stan Brakhage's many shorts featuring a number of colors crossing all over each other, "Glaze of Cathexis" goes all out in its oddball factor.

I looked up the word cathexis. Psychoanalyst (and translator of Sigmund Freud) James Strachey chose the word to render the German word Besetzung. It's defined as the process of allocation of mental or emotional energy to a person, object, or idea. Freud defined it as an allocation of libido.

Whatever the case, Brakhage made an interesting short here. It's good that we have a number of his works available from the Criterion Collection.