This rare documentary, simply called “John Cage”, was made in 1966 for the German TV station NDR and is one of the earliest films devoted entirely to the work of Cage and his collaborators. It was made on the occasion of the Cage and Cunningham European tour in that year, and instead of fully explaining the music and philosophy of the composer, we get a fascinating glimpse at the work process of the dance troupe and of Cage himself. Most of the film is concerned with showing us how they set up a performance for the Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, and there is a lot of interview and everyday material with Cage, Merce Cunningham, David Tudor, Gordon Mumma and Carolyn Brown, to name just the best known artists here. It’s also nice to see a rather youthful looking Cage (though he was 54 at the time!), still wearing the famous tie that had been cut off by Nam June Paik a few years earlier. There’s also some archival footage from Tudor’s and Cage’s very first German performance in Darmstadt in 1954.
这部罕见的纪录片名为《约翰·凯奇》，于1966年为德国NDR电视台制作，是最早专门讲述凯奇及其合作者作品的影片之一。影片拍摄于凯奇和坎宁安当年欧洲巡演之际，全面阐释了作曲家的音乐和创作理念，让我们一窥舞蹈团和凯奇本人的创作过程。影片的大部分内容都集中在如何为梅格基金会之夜（Nuits de la Fondation Maeght）的演出做准备，此外，影片中还包含大量对凯奇、默斯·坎宁安、大卫·都铎、戈登·穆玛和卡罗琳·布朗等人的采访和日常生活片段，这些只是影片中最著名的艺术家。此外，影片中凯奇看起来相当年轻（尽管当时他已经54岁了！），仍然戴着几年前被白南准剪掉的那条著名领带，也令人欣喜。其中还包括 1954 年都铎和凯奇在达姆施塔特首次德国演出的一些档案片段。
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