The Painting intercuts shots of traffic navigating the old-world remnants of downtown Bern, Switzerland, with details from a 15th-century altarpiece, “The Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus”. The painting shows the calm, near-naked saint in a peaceful landscape, a frozen moment before four horses tear his body to pieces while an audience of soigné nobles look on; in the movie’s revised version, Beavers gives it a comparably rarefied psychodramatic jolt, juxtaposing shots of Gregory Markopoulos, bisected by shafts of light, with a torn photo of himself and the recurring image of a shattered windowpane.
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Part of My Hand Outstretched to the Winged Distance and Sightless Measure
18 films
Winged Dialogue
Movie · 1967
Plan of Brussels
Movie · 1968
The Count of Days
Movie · 1969
Palinode
Movie · 1970
Diminished Frame
Movie · 1971
Still Light
Movie · 1971
The Painting
Movie · 1972
From the Notebook of...
Movie · 1972
Work Done
Movie · 1973
Ruskin
Movie · 1974
AMOR
Movie · 1980
Efpsychi
Movie · 1983
Wingseed
Movie · 1985
The Stoas
Movie · 1997
Sotiros
Movie · 2000
The Ground
Movie · 2001
The Hedge Theater
Movie · 2002
Early Monthly Segments
Movie · 2003
Cast
1 person
Robert Beavers Director · Gladyris Silva Costume designer
United States release October 9, 1999 · Produced in Switzerland
Production
Switzerland
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
No dialogue
Release dates
Austria · January 1, 1972
Theatrical · Original Version: The Painting, 1972, 16mm, colour, sound, 20 minutes First Public Screening: Cinematografischer Salon, Innsbruck, 1972
United States · October 9, 1999
Premiere · New York Film Festival
Canada
September 8, 2000 · Premiere · Toronto Film Festival
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