Master Rank #699

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One

1968

GCML Total6.7640% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by William Greaves

CastWilliam Greaves · Patricia Ree Gilbert

USAEnglishDocumentary75 minNot Rated
Sight & SoundExperimental DocumentaryDeliberate pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

Director William Greaves films actors in Central Park while a second crew records the production and its growing confusion.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

William Greaves directs actors through repeated versions of an argument in Central Park while additional crews film the scene, Greaves, and one another. As the workers question the production’s purpose and their director’s methods, their behind-the-scenes debate becomes part of the movie being made.

Why it belongs

William Greaves transforms an acting exercise into a multilayered study of direction, labor, race, authority, and a crew debating the film while making it.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Greaves films an acting exercise with several crews, then includes the crew's arguments about the production itself. Competing cameras and commentary place authority, collaboration, and documentary truth at the center.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Continue the conversation

Double Feature