Film Details

In this film version of a multi-screen art installation by German video artist Julian Rosefeldt, a chameleon-like Cate Blanchett recites assorted 20th-century artistic manifestos (for Dadaism, Futurism, Minimalism, Surrealism, Dogma 95, et al.) while playing 13 different characters (CEO, sanitation worker, punk rocker, nuclear scientist, teacher, funeral orator, et al.) in a series of playful, often funny vignettes. Placing zealots’ philosophical fighting words into the mouths of non-artists in a variety of mundane settings results in some incongruous delights—like a TV anchorwoman delivering Sol LeWitt’s notes on Conceptual Art, or a suburban Southern mom reciting Claes Oldenburg’s Pop Art prayer before serving a turkey dinner. “A cavalcade of provocative ideas, arresting visuals and fabulous wigs.” –Screen International. DCP. 95 min.