| Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kenneth Anger |
| Starring | Sampson DeBrier Marjorie Cameron Joan Whitney Anaïs Nin Curtis Harrington |
| Music by | Leoš Janáček (Glagolitic Mass) |
| Distributed by | Mystic Fire Video (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | 1954 |
| Running time | 38 mins (original version, two other versions exist) |
| Country | USA |
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome is a short 38 minute film by Kenneth Anger, filmed in 1954. Anger created two other versions of this film in 1966 and the late 1970s. According to Anger, the film takes the name "pleasure dome" from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's atmospheric poem Kubla Khan. Anger was inspired to make the film after attending a Halloween party called "Come as your Madness."[1]
The film – primarily the 2nd and 3rd revisions – was often shown in American universities and art galleries during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
The original edition soundtrack is a complete performance of Glagolitic Mass by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček (1854–1928). In 1966, a re-edited version known as 'The Sacred Mushroom Edition' was made available. In the late 1970s, a third revision was made, basically 'The Sacred Mushroom Edition' re-edited to fit the complete Electric Light Orchestra album Eldorado minus one standard blues progression song which Anger apparently felt did not fit the mood of the film.
The differences in the visuals of the 1954 original and the 2 revisions are minor.
The movie features the author Anaïs Nin as 'Astarte', Marjorie Cameron as 'The Scarlet Woman', and the filmmaker Curtis Harrington, as well as Kenneth Anger himself.
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