Asparagus (1979)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

A Disappointing Continuation

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Blistering performances.

Have fond memories of seeing this as an opener for a mid-career Fellini flick. Everyone in the audience was spellbound. The imagery challenges you to metabolize it, somehow, and surely some of it stubbornly refuses to give up any secrets.Was enormously impressed with the scene in the theater. It's a thought- provoking representation of a relationship between an idealized artist and an idealized audience.

"Asparagus" is an American short film from 1979. The writer and director here is Suzan Pitt and it is certainly still her most known work. The movie runs for 20 minutes approximately and takes us on a journey with a woman who decides to go out and spend an evening at a theater and other locations. But before she goes, she bakes sure the bowels are empty and we graphically see that, only that what comes out of her butt is not the usual, but it's lots of asparagus. That's why the title, I guess. And this motive is repeated on some other occasions. Near the end, for example, she sucks on an asparagus as if it was male genitalia. That should already tell you the tone of this film. Yes it is animated, but it is certainly not a good watch for very young audiences. Then again, it is probably also not a good watch for grown-up audiences. I myself liked very little in here. The animation was fine, but in terms of story, it felt really empty, just going for cheap thrills, but not a convincing or interesting plot. Thumbs down from me and, judging from this one, I am not surprised Pitt did not make it bigger in the decades since this came out.

I found the images to be insightful, and was glad to see that the director was not afraid to portray the feminine in depth. It's very hard to explain, since this short is an abstract, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Some people may be uncomfortable with the overt sexual imagery, though, especially the scene in the garden.

It has been almost two decades since I saw this film, and I enter my comments only because nobody else has. I don't trust my memory much, but it's better than nothing._Asparagus_, as I recall it, was a beautiful dreamlike sequence of psychedelic images, with no clear plot or action. A woman discovers her own power and womanhood by working magic on her environment -- perhaps.Many of the images were of receding perspectives of stage curtains and scenery, rolling back and opening to reveal successive depths; perhaps this can be compared to the vaginal symbolism in Judy Chicago's installation _The Dinner Party_, with which this film is approximately contemporary.The music was also dreamlike and its slow progression fit the slow evolution of the images on screen.The film is definitely _adult_ animation; parents should view it before deciding whether to present it to their children.I hope someone who has seen _Asparagus_ more recently than I will take a moment to provide a more cogent review.