Letter from Stan Brakhage

June 9, 1988

Dear Rick,

Very moving to see your films in Toronto-most especially (personally) “House Movie” as you guessed: but the greatest film, to me, was “Landfall” wherein I felt you achieved a hard-w0on acceptance of the Universe, like we way-i.e. there was no sentimentality from ground chosen to begin the film thru to your full exposition (clear clean visual architecture-in-evolution) of it-Bravo! “Beach Events” seems, to me, the more personal (one thing at a time) approach to life, so that IT/(the scenes of the film) reverberate in what Maya Deren characterized as vertical montage, but your subtleties of words adds ‘another dimension’ to his verticality (one that Maya, oddly, never considered, to my knowledge-she always thinking of words as explanation, somesuch): so I tag along, all nerve ends fully engaged, finally, in Beach Events; but I feel fully at ONE with “Landfall” from the beginning.

These poor words (not even good explanation) will have to do for now; but they’ll suffice I hope, to let you know I think, and feel, you to be a great filmmaker (and from scratch-ie. With such perfect honesty as “House Movie”) and that I’ll be showing your films and talking and writing about them.

Blessings,

Stan