Christopher
Maclaine

Christopher Maclaine, a beat poet of the 1940s and 50s living in San Francisco, made only four films in his lifetime; the first and longest two: The End (1953), which is 35 minutes, and the 14-minute The Man Who Invented Gold (1957) present the profoundest challenge to viewer identification I know of. Avoiding the extreme (though brilliant) conceptual anticinema of such filmmakers as Maurice Lemaitre, Maclaine tells stories based in social reality but in a manner so profoundly fragmented, so unnerving, as to give even viewers who have seen the works many times a series of perceptual shocks. Among the greatest films I have ever seen, these twin fables of doom and redemption are also unlike any others I know. After perhaps 20 viewings of The End over the past 30 years, I feel as if I am only beginning to understand its greatness. - Fred Camper