MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Cage/Cunningham’ Takes Lyric Look at Two Legends

Given the legendary trailblazing by composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, the temptation to set forth their careers in terms of historical detail must be strong. Director Elliot Caplan resisted that lure, however, in “Cage/Cunningham,” opening tonight for a four-night run at the Nuart Theatre.

Instead, he has made a lyrical bio-rhapsody that neatly captures the restless wonder of their lives and works in almost hagiographical fashion. It will confound seekers of conventional documentary biography, while enchanting fans of the artists.

Caplan mixes clips from five decades of creative efforts with talking heads--but wonderfully characterful heads--and arty glimpses of scenic details in a quickly cutting film which dispenses with chronological or topical linearity. The dizzying spin is so similar in effect to much of the music and dance under consideration that one wonders whether Caplan used chance operations in determining the pace and connections of his movie.

In many ways, the film does better by sight than by sound, technically and as subject. All the choreography here is from Cunningham, but not all of the music is by Cage, something probably not clear to those who do not know the scores involved. Cage in performance is largely confined to relatively recent clips of him reading.

Genial befuddlement is hardly an element alien to the experience of the composer’s music, however, and on that level “Cage/Cunningham” works well.

The short but telling dance clips--the film is presented by the Cunningham Dance Foundation-- remind us of how fundamental Cunningham’s work is to our expectations of modern dance. There is a refreshing shock in seeing early statements of gestures and postures now conventional components of the language.

‘Cage/Cunningham’

An October Films release of a Cunningham Dance Foundation production. Director Elliot Caplan. Choreography Merce Cunningham. Music John Cage. Writer David Vaughan. Editor Elliot Caplan. Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes. Times-rated General.