Cleophas and His Own (2005) watch online HD

Cleophas and His Own (2005) is a stunning film, a melding of Marsden Hartley's unpublished 13-chapter poem (hypnotically enacted by Michael Maglaras) with Hartley's astonishing paintings from his last years in Maine and Canada. The film depicts in silence the B&W scenes from the poem as recited by Maglaras as Hartley. Interspersed in color are the amazing Hartley paintings.

Long, contemplative, and sad. This is a film about an artist's last passion. Central to the film is the amazing performance of Maglaras. He sits in a chair and with no props other than his hands and an occasional cigarette, recites, no, enacts, Hartley's poem. The silent scenes depict the various story elements as the poem is told. The story builds in intensity as we get closer to the tragedy that haunted Hartley til his death. The long, silent closeup of Maglaras as Hartley at film's end is beautifully lit and almost unbearable in its silence and non-action. It's as if Hartley has become the subject of his own brush.

Also directed by Maglaras.

Hartley has long been my favorite modern painter. His land- and seascapes of Maine; his landscapes of New Mexico, his Germanic emblemic art, and his final period dominated by his new-found family and the sea cover a range of 50-odd years. His paintings are truly amazing.