“These are the Same Words, Only in Reverse…”: The Origins of Kenneth Anger’s Aesthetic

Abstract

The article analyzes the work of the famous American film Director, one of the pioneers of the postwar film avant-garde Kenneth Anger. At first, Anger’s cre­ative path is systematized, its main milestones are highlighted and the principles of directing techniques and basic elements of his film aesthetic are analyzed in detail. Then the religious roots of Anger's creativity is revealed. The article an­alyzes in details three films that bear the obvious influence of the ideas of Allis­ter Crowley esotericism (“Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome”, “Invocation of My Demon Brother” and “Lucifer Rising”), considers the direct connections of Crowley and Anger. In the final part of the article, there is a complete recon­struction of Anger’s aesthetic. According to this analyses there are several key ideas which help to understand the language of Anger: Crowley’s idea of the Higher Self, the symbolism of light and the doctrine of the Aeon of Horus. In the conclusion author proposes the hypothesis that Anger deconstructed Crowley’s thought, raising it to Christian origins, and recreated the aesthetics of Christianity, without realizing it.