Matthew Barney's Operatic Film River of Fundament Reviewed as Visionary Yet Frustrating

Matthew Barney and composer Jonathan Bepler's 2014 film River of Fundament adapts Norman Mailer's novel Ancient Evenings into a four-and-a-half-hour operatic epic. The work follows Menenhetet, reimagined as Mailer, through reincarnations in a quest for immortality, blending surreal scenes like a wake with Hollywood stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Paul Giamatti, and Ellen Burstyn against Detroit's industrial backdrop. Action shifts between sung performances and naturalistic executions, featuring stylized clashes of Egyptian gods and aristocracy. Barney's direction employs slow zooms, aerial shots, and tracking, reminiscent of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, while emphasizing decay and entropy in bodies and sets. Bepler's score, including a keening female chorus with drums, enhances the film's intense atmosphere. Critiques note objectification of female bodies and superficial use of ethnic minorities like Mexicans, African Americans, and Native Americans for exoticized cultural demonstrations. The film's dense symbolism and arcane references create a perplexing narrative, described as both visionary and pretentious, with a focus on decomposition as artistic process. A review first published on July 9, 2014, highlights its brilliance and frustrations.