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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 ½ (15*)

I Am Furious Black

,Cinema 3
A man in headphone

The follow-up film to William Greaves' renowned experimental meta-fiction Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One sees the original cast reunite, thirty-five years later. 

In his final finished film, Greaves returns to his experimental feat, reuniting the actors who played its central couple over thirty years later. 

Prompted by the universal celebration and praise for Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One when it was screened at the Brooklyn Museum in 1991, twenty years after it was filmed, Greaves was invited by Steven Soderberg (Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven) to create a sequel, along with Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), who appears in the film, and takes on the role of producer.  

Greaves creates a compelling reflection on the creative process, blending scripted material with improvisation. The passing time and the aging performers lend the film a melancholic undertone. 

Greaves signs off his career in film on an enigmatic note, creating a work no one saw coming, and one which retains its power and intrigue.

Tagged with: Cinema I Am Furious Black
Film information
  • Release year   2005
  • Country of origin   USA
  • Director   William Greaves
  • Runtime   1hr 39mins

Ticket prices

Standard
£15.50 (£14 + £1.50 transaction fee)
* Excludes £1.50 booking fee

Booking fees

£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.

No fee when tickets are booked in person.

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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One

The original Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One was submitted to Cannes Film Festival, and the story goes that tragically, the reels of film were played in the wrong order, rendering an already challenging to follow narrative entirely incoherent. It was discovered twenty years later, to great critical acclaim, which prompted the creation of this sequel.

The original was an experimental film that follows William Greaves directing a screen test of a couple arguing in Central Park; questioning both the authenticity of what we see, and the act of filmmaking. 

Fascinated by sociology and philosophy, Greaves created the hyper-meta project to explore human behaviour through the lens of social roles and pressures. 

 

More of a psychological experiment than drama or doc, Greaves uses the pretence of making a film, to examine the dynamics of a crew. He expanded on the concept ‘symbiotaxiplasm,’; “the living web of events and environmental elements that impact human consciousness and behaviour” (Arthur F. Bentley).  

Playing out like a documentary about a documentary about making a film; all these ideas come together to reflect 1960s US counterculture, and playfully subvert audience expectations at every turn, set to In A Silent Way by Miles Davis.  

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Cinema 3

Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.   

Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS

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