Jean Cocteau once said that until film was as cheap as a pad of artist's paper, then it could not be art. In the late 1950s, the cost of hand-held cameras had dropped enough to make them affordable to a middle class willing to take home movies.
Thank you reviewer 'boblipton' on this board for his thoughts on "Little Stabs at Happiness"; his sentiments are the same as mine. When this film was originally screened for a New York City, Charles Theater audience, it was met with equal parts applause and derision.
What does it mean? a good question, because the only things we see in this picture are a dressed up man (with a whole stock of mirrors with him), a dressed op woman and an undressed (wooden?
This Ken Jacobs film can be found on "American Film Treasures/Avant Garde Film: Disc 2"--a compilation of mostly forgotten art films of the 20th century. This DVD set is NOT for the casual viewer and sometimes I wonder why I watched the films--as some of them were VERY artsy and weird!
