Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves

Made in 1968, African American filmmaker William Greaves' experimental feature Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One was shot entirely in New York's Central Park and is built around one of the most puzzling yet original concepts imaginable. At the core of the action is an ongoing screen test in which a man and a woman play a bickering couple with serious issues (she is suspicious he might be gay, which he fervently denies). Now here's the tricky part: the film crew is being filmed by a second film crew who are in turn being followed by a third film crew, with split screens employed to keep members of the various groups in view. Director Greaves turns up in the middle of the mix, coordinating (with various degrees of success) the multiple film crews and not-always-successful rehearsals. The exact point of this exercise is never entirely clear and it is easy to get confused regarding who is shooting whom; nor does it help that the film's production values (particularly the sound recording) are fairly weak. Yet for sheer inventiveness, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One is a remarkable attempt to create something very different, and while it doesn't quite hit the bull's-eye, the film nonetheless deserves consideration for its cinematic audacity. This two-disc Criterion Collection release also features Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2½, a 2003 follow-up from executive producers Steve Buscemi and Steven Soderbergh that incorporates a substantial amount of footage from the original film, while also picking up where the first film left off. DVD extras include a new hour-long documentary about Greaves' career (featuring Ruby Dee, filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, and film scholar Scott MacDonald), a new video interview with Buscemi, and a 36-page color booklet with an essay by film critic Amy Taubin and production notes. Recommended. (P. Hall)