River of Fundament

“Goes much further than the Cremaster series. A movie about human life in its most elemental and sometimes violent states.”—New York Times

Matthew Barney’s epic Cremaster series remains one of the most popular film events in Wexner Center history. His latest film, River of Fundament, is an equally monumental achievement. An ambitious story of regeneration and rebirth, the operatic film is loosely based on the 1983 Norman Mailer novel Ancient Evenings, as an ancient Egyptian protagonist seeks reincarnation in the hope of achieving immortality. Three feature-length acts filmed live in Los Angeles, Detroit, and New York intersect with scenes of staggering and grotesque performance for which Barney is known. They are framed around an imagined dinner party wake being held for the author, set in a meticulous recreation of Mailer’s Brooklyn brownstone apartment and attended by Dick Cavett, Debbie Harry, Salman Rushdie, Elaine Stritch, Lawrence Weiner, and other luminaries of the literary and cultural scene. (319 mins. + two 20 minute intermissions; Act I: 115 mins.; Act II: 108 mins.; Act III: 96 mins., 4K DCP)