Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars
"Extraordinary! Makes one weep for what could have been, and what was."
-- - Hilton Als, The New Yorker
Part of Culture Vulture film series
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars
One of the great unrealized theatrical productions of the twentieth century, ROBERT WILSON AND THE CIVIL WARS would have been the legendary avant-garde filmmaker’s magnum opus: a twelve-hour historical opera in six distinct parts, each rehearsed in a different country (Germany, France, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, and the U.S.) for a holistic performance at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Over the course of the project’s ill-fated conception, documentary director Howard Brookner follows Wilson, composers Philip Glass and David Byrne, and several production troupes as they seek to perfect an epic that encompasses the American Civil War, the life and death of Frederick the Great, and the unification of Italy, along with imagery from Frank L. Baum, Jules Verne, and Mathew Brady. Struggling to procure timely funding and constantly negotiating with striking Italian theater unions, Wilson nonetheless proves himself a force of nature, determined to follow through on his outsize dream of a Gesamtkunstwerk that brilliantly fuses art and life.
Genre
Documentary,
Art & Artists
Web Site
Runtime
90
Language
English
Director
Howard Brookner
Producer
Howard Brookner,
Markus Trebitsch,
Orin Wechsberg,
Robert Wilson
Writer(s)
Howard Brookner
Cast
Robert Wilson,
Philip Glass,
David Byrne
Opening at
Monica Film Center on Jun 20th
Town Center 5 on Jun 20th
Glendale on Jun 20th
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars Get Tickets
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Note: There were no showtimes for Sat, May 9th,
so instead we're showing you showtimes for the next available date on Sat, Jun 20th.