Carriage Trade is a 1971 American experimental film directed by Warren Sonbert.
| Carriage Trade | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Warren Sonbert |
Release date |
|
Running time | 61 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
Production
editCarriage Trade was filmed over the course of six years as Sonbert brought a Bolex 16 mm camera with him on international trips.[1][2] According to his program notes, the filming locations were Afghanistan, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[3]
Early titles for the film were The Tuxedo Theatre, The Bad and the Beautiful, and Tonight and Every Night.[4]
Style
editThe film marked a major shift in Sonbert's filmmaking. Unlike his earlier short films, which are loosely narrative works that used longer takes, Carriage Trade is a montage work built out of shorter shots.[5]
Release
editA 20-minute early cut of the footage from Carriage Trade, then known as The Tuxedo Theatre, was shown at the Jewish Museum in New York on February 11, 1969.[5] Sonbert screened a longer 80-minute cut in London and New York.[4] He edited that down to a final 61-minute version which has become the most widely distributed version.[6] It premiered in 1971 as part of the Museum of Modern Art's Cineprobe series.[7] The Whitney Museum screened it in 1973 as part of its New American Filmmakers series.[1]
Carriage Trade is now part of Anthology Film Archives' Essential Cinema Repertory collection.[8]
Critical reception
editFor The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote that it "makes for a slightly dizzying but colorful and far-ranging trip, [but] it also illustrates the talents of an acutely perceptive and artistic film maker."[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Weiler, A. H. (October 12, 1973). "Silent 'Carriage Trade' Is World of Images". The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ Gartenberg, Jon (2015). "A Delicate Balance: Warren Sonbert's Creative Legacy". Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. 56 (1): 18. doi:10.1353/frm.2015.a579198.
- ^ Ehrenstein, David (October 21, 2012). "The Tuxedo Theater: On filmmaker Warren Sonbert". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Mekas, Jonas (November 19, 1970). "Movie Journal". The Village Voice. p. 43.
- ^ a b Gartenberg, Jon (2015). "Film". Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media. 56 (1): 156. doi:10.1353/frm.2015.a579215.
- ^ Gartenberg, Jon (2002). "The Fragile Emulsion". The Moving Image. 2 (2): 142–153.
- ^ "The Experimental Narratives of Warren Sonbert" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art. 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ "Essential Cinema". Anthology Film Archives. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
