William Greaves

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves

In his one-of-a-kind fiction/documentary hybrid Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, the pioneering William Greaves presides over a beleaguered film crew in New York’s Central Park, leaving them to try to figure out what kind of movie they’re making. A couple enacts a breakup scenario over and over, a documentary crew films a crew filming the crew, locals wander casually into the frame: the project defies easy description. Yet this wildly innovative sixties counterculture landmark remains one of the most tightly focused and insightful movies ever made about making movies, expanded thirty-five years later by its unconventional follow-up, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take . The “sequel” sees Take One actors Audrey Henningham and Shannon Baker reunited in a more personal, metatheatrical exploration of the effects of the passage of time on technology, the artistic process, and relationships—real and fabricated.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 174 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.33:1/1.78:1
  • English
  • Spine #360

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital transfers of both films, approved by director William Greaves, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-ray
    SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM TAKE ONE (1968 • 75 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.33:1 aspect ratio)
    SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM TAKE 2½ (2005 • 99 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.78:1 aspect ratio)
  • Discovering William Greaves (2006), a documentary on the director’s career, featuring Greaves, his wife and coproducer Louise Archambault Greaves, actor Ruby Dee, filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, and film scholar Scott MacDonald
  • Interview from 2006 with actor Steve Buscemi
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Amy Taubin and production notes by William Greaves for Take One

    Cover by Neil Kellerhouse

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital transfers of both films, approved by director William Greaves, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-ray
    SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM TAKE ONE (1968 • 75 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.33:1 aspect ratio)
    SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM TAKE 2½ (2005 • 99 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.78:1 aspect ratio)
  • Discovering William Greaves (2006), a documentary on the director’s career, featuring Greaves, his wife and coproducer Louise Archambault Greaves, actor Ruby Dee, filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, and film scholar Scott MacDonald
  • Interview from 2006 with actor Steve Buscemi
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Amy Taubin and production notes by William Greaves for Take One

    Cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Two Takes by William Greaves
Cast
TAKE ONE
TAKE ONE
Patricia Ree Gilbert
Alice
Don Fellows
Freddie
Jonathan Gordon
Bob Rosen
William Greaves
TAKE 2½
TAKE 2½
Audrey Henningham
Alice
Shannon Baker
Freddie
Jonathan Gordon
Marcia Karp
Steve Buscemi
Credits
TAKE ONE
TAKE ONE
Director
William Greaves
Produced and edited by
William Greaves
Coproducer
Manuel Melamed
Director of photography
Terence Macartney-Filgate
Director of photography
Stevan Larner
Music
Miles Davis
TAKE 2½
TAKE 2½
Produced and directed by
William Greaves
Executive producer
Steven Soderbergh
Executive producer
Steve Buscemi
Coproducer
Louise Archambault Greaves
Editor
Christopher Osborn
Line producer
Bill Stitt
Cinematography
Terence Macartney-Filgate
Cinematography
Phil Parmet
Cinematography
Stevan Larner
Cinematography
Henry Adebonojo
Cinematography
Jonathan Weaver

Current

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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Still No Answers

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By Amy Taubin

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Lessons in Liberation: Ephraim Asili on the Films That Shaped Him

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By Beatrice Loayza

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Performances

Man with a Plan: William Greaves in Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One
We don’t often talk about documentaries as featuring performances. But consider the highly performative people at the centers of Grey Gardens, General Idi Amin Dada, and last year’s The Act of Killing, or even the seemingly more modest souls …

By Michael Koresky

Steve Buscemi’s Top 10
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