Stan Brakhage Film “Ballad of the Colorado Ute” Native American Folklore Xd4817 (1961)
1961 · Short film · 17 min
Synopsis
Featuring stylized visual storytelling, this rarely seen film by famed experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage was produced for the Colorado Department of Public Relations and is one of two films (the other being "Colorado Legend") to explore Colorado myths. This film tells the story of the Ute people and the tension between the youth, “the Braves”, and an elder, “Smoking Water”. While the footage and cultural objects are provided by the University of Colorado Museum and Denver Art Museum, the imagery and scenes of the indigenous Ute people are heavily stylized and stereotypical.00:10 State of Colorado seal graphic. "Nil sine numine" 00:18 Pan to tree top. "Ballad of the Colorado Ute" title. Narrated by Fred Arthur. Music Composed by Mark Spencer. Music Performed by Mary Fowler, Chuck Smith, Barbara Woolard. Sound Engineer: Joseph Jackson. 00:36 Photography, Editing, and Pictorial Continuity by Stan Brakhage. 00:40 Supervised for the Colorado Department of Public Relations by Hal Haney. 00:43 Written and directed by Stan Phillips. 00:55 Montage of natural footage in Colorado. 01:16 Berries fall to ground. 01:18 Brush billow in wind by stream. 01:31 Wooden dam in water. 01:37 Close up of water. 01:49 Beaver swims. 01:56 Dam in river. 02:03 Landscape of rocky mountain. 02:18 Overlay of pipe over landscape footage. 02:41 Zoom into starry night sky. 02:46 Smoke wisps. 02:50 Artistic depiction of Smoking Water, a Ute man. He sits, smokes pipe 03:13 And plays bone whistle. 03:27…
Uploader's description on archive.org
Details
- Running time
- 17 minutes
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- Mark Spencer
- Stan Brakhage
- Colorado Department
- Public Relations
- Colorado Legend
- Smoking Water
- Colorado Museum
- Denver Art Museum
- Colorado Ute
- Fred Arthur
