Suite California: Stops and Passes Part I (1976) by Robert Nelson
Thursday, May 3, 1984, 8:00 pm
Robert Nelson: Suite California
This evening’s program concludes our three-part retrospective of Robert Nelson’s films. Long considered a central figure in the San Francisco style, Nelson moved on both aesthetically and geographically in the late ’70s to give new expression to his unique voice by fusing narrative, travelogue and autobiographical material, his comic worldview always underfoot.
Suite California: Stops and Passes Part I, 1976, 46 min.; Nelson’s major work of the ’70s ranges over geography (Tijuana, Death Valley, Hollywood) and time. Hollywood is rendered in a complex blend of irony and nostalgia. The style ranges from scripted dramatic narrative to free-wheeling funk. Suite California: Stops and Passes Part II, 1978, 48 min.; personal autobiographical material is rendered as a travelogue through San Francisco, Sierra Nevada Mountains and Marin County.