Critical Mass

“Hapax Legoma Pt. 3; Critical Mass” – Hapax Legoma are, literally, “things said once.” The Greek scholarly jargon refers to those words that occur only a single time in the entire oeuvre of an author, or in a whole literature. The title brackets a cycle of films, which make up a single work composed of detachable parts, each of which may be seen separately for its own qualities. The work is an oblique autobiography, seen in stereoscopic focus with the phylogeny of film art as I have had to recapitulate it during my own fitful development as a filmmaker. (HF) “As a work of art I think ‘Critical Mass’ is quite universal and deals with all quarrels (those between men and women, or men and men, or women and women, or children, or war). It is WAR!… It is one of the most delicate and clear statements of inter-human relationships and the difficulties of them that I have seen. It is very funny, and rather obviously so. It is a magic film in that you can enjoy it, with greater and greater appreciation, each time you look at it.” – Stan Brakhage