[dropcap letter=”M”]aybe it’s all the pre-Independence Day pyrotechnics talk, but Kenneth Anger has been on our mind lately (his experimental film Fireworks sparked said remembrance.). Conventional wisdom avows to the fact Los Angeles is chalk full of offbeat characters, but the experimental filmmaker (Lucifer Rising, Mouse Heaven, Inaguration of the Pleasure Dome)stands above the rest. With a list of friends any subculture egghead would kill for—Marianne Faithfull, Jean Cocteau, Jimmy Page, Tennessee Williams, to name a few—Anger is one Hollywood type we would gladly have a drink with at the Roosevelt.
Anger has always worked above the fray of cinema, a practice that has mirrored his life. He is solitary man who on rare occasions steps out into his native LA city. In order to delve into the mind of this somewhat elusive experimentalist gem, Interview sought out Harmony Korine (Kids, Gummo, Spring Breakers) to have a chat with Anger and get a sense how this cinematic provocateur feels about the current state of film-making.
photography SEBASTIAN KIM
And when asked by Korine whether “there’s any type of magic to Los Angeles still? Is it as interesting as old Hollywood?” his response might surprise you. But shock has always been Anger’s ammo.
