Cremaster 2

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Gap model turned artist Matthew Barney has completed Cremaster 2, everything you want a vaguely cryptic art film to be. It's open-ended but not obtuse, and brimming with symbols that'll anchor any after-movie discussion. The plot, as such, follows an escaped convict (Barney) through the mythic Midwest. There's a delightful death-metal interlude, followed by a lonely gas station scene, a rodeo in a corral made of salt, and Norman Mailer as escape-artist Harry Houdini. Barney is snagged on the visual, from his ethereal furniture to his centerpiece, a rhinestone saddle that references Wild West and high fashion at the same time.