Okay, I'll admit it...I've never seen this (so called)masterpiece in it's entirety (for those who are not familiar with it,it's an eight hour,plus portrait of the Empire State Building). I did see a fragment of it in the documentary about Warhol, called Andy Warhol:Superstar some years back (plus if I'm not mistaken, there's a brief clip of it in that superb,two part documentary that was aired on PBS sometimes last year). I figured, I guess I've seen all that I probably want (or,for that matter,need) to see. I heard rumors that Warhol used to dare people that came over to the Factory to watch it from start to finish. Although I consider myself to be a bit more patient with experimental/avant garde cinema, even this one would be a real challenge (and I sat through all eight hours of Mathew Barney's Cremaster Cycle in one screening a few years back, and loved it). I guess a certain level of pretension is to be expected with this kind of modern/post modern art. I guess the only way of seeing this soiled classic now is to visit the Warhol museum & find out if there is a screening planned of his early silent films.
Review of Empire
