Beautiful! Kenneth Anger's obscure filmography is chock full of artistic masterpieces, and "Eaux d'artifice" is among his very best work! Unlike many other Anger films, "Eaux d'artifice" is not provocative, explicit, or disturbing, instead it is a gorgeous, magical short focusing on the majesty of water. The fountains featured in the film flow with grace, water moves majestically through nearly every shot, images dissolve in and out of one another in a uniquely constructed, breathtaking way. This film will likely have fans of experimental art and imagery speechless, gleefully bathing in Anger's adventurous imagination. An avant garde classic this one is, and for good reason!

The short films of Kenneth Anger are certainly NOT for the casual film goer! The best way to describe them is avant-garde--and often make little sense, as they are not meant to be shown to the masses. Some are incredibly artistic--like filmed work of art. Some are really cheaply made and definitely look it. Regardless, they are a challenge to watch and I very strongly recommend you see them with his commentary activated. So why would I see these shorts? Well, in a recent interview I noticed that John Waters credits Anger for much of his inspiration. And, since I have seen all the films of Waters that are available (a couple very early ones aren't), it seems natural I'd give Anger's films a try. This and four other reviews are best on the DVD "Films of Kenneth Anger: Volume 1".I notice that one reviewer gave this film a 1 and called it the worst of Anger's films. While I can really understand someone not liking his work (it is a very acquired taste), I can't see attacking this film in particular, as it is one of the loveliest and most technically amazing shorts of the age. While I do NOT generally like art films, this one is amazing.Much of the reason I was so impressed with this film was as Anger described it in the commentary track, I realized just how difficult the film was to get it to look the way it did. To give the film a wonderful blue luminous quality, he actually filmed the short using black & white film shot through a red filter. Then, he had the result developed using color stock! To make the scenery at Tivoli's water garden look bigger, he used a midget as his actress! And, to get the water to cascade just right, he also used varying speeds with the camera. I was quite impressed that a film maker who was not at all "Hollywood" but an avant-garde film maker would know to do this. Additionally, the use of Vivaldi's "Winter" from "The Four Seasons" was perfectly timed to the film and made the whole thing a treat to see.If you are looking for an art film, it doesn't get a lot better than this.

Pointless (and deadly dull) short film by Kenneth Anger. It involves a small woman (called the Water Witch I believe) wandering around this place with tons of gushing water. Then at the end she becomes a fountain. Swear to God--that's it! Anger's early films are an acquired taste. I did like "Fireworks", "Puce Moment" and "Rabbits Moon" but the popularity of this has always escaped me. I've seen it multiple times and (more often than not) found myself struggling to stay awake! Anger's beautiful imagery seems to be missing here. Just a bunch of gushing water and a midget running around in a bizarre outfit is not enough to keep me interested. How this got on the list of film to be preserved is beyond me. "Fireworks" is MUCH better than this--but I guess "Fireworks" is too homo erotic. I personally can't stand this one but many others seem to think it's a masterpiece. Use your own judgment.

So far as I've seen, Kenneth Anger has kept mainly to stage-like productions of silent films with a lot of art concepts that appeal to me. This one is so far the one I like the most. Anger shoots in blue-tinted black and white again, this time in a water-sculpture park in Italy.Eaux D'Artifice, Anger explains, is a pun on "Feux D'Artifice" which means "firework." Most of the shots in this film deal predominantly with light as it refracts through the water, in many cases making images that are very resemblant to fireworks. Eaux D'Artifice could also in a way mean "Water Sculpture", which is often what Anger builds this film around.Anger's choice of a protagonist was a very good one. Her size does indeed make the park look bigger and more fantastic, and I think this is Anger's most effective creation of imaginary and dreamlike realms. This movie is very reminiscent of fantasy book covers and paintings that seem to somehow attract many people by a sense of serene mysticism and magical perplexity. Somehow this film reaches to an internal need for magic and alternate worlds, which I feel is very related to our obsession with dreams.--PolarisDiB