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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Stan Brakhage film about autopsy and dissection is at first, weird, but gradually becomes strangely natural., 13 June 2006
10/10
Author: tonymurphylee from USA

Now obviously, this film may sound silly. The film itself is basically a 40 minute film without narrative or opinion. It is simply a film depicting autopsy on dead bodies. At first this sounds gross and disgusting, but in reality, the skin of dead bodies are really nothing much other than dirt, or at least soon to be. The idea of this being gross can be pulled out of the fact that these bodies were once alive. Yes, we see images of the insides of their bodies. We see their brains and skull. We see the cuts being placed on their skin and then being opened to reveal a massive doorway to intestines, bone, blood,liver, veins, and other things. We do not know what kinds of things that these bodies did when they were alive and moving. We are not even shown what their facial features are like really. We just see their bodies being opened and examined. Stan Brakhage, an experimental filmmaker, doesn't consider that his audience may want to know these things. Or maybe he does but is not interested enough to show us. This way, we can leave our concerns behind and hope to get something out of these gruesome things. We may or may not, but the idea of this sort of meaning is enough to watch it more than once, if not to see if we react or see something differently.

(I watched this film as part of the DVD short film collection of Stan Brakhage entitled, BY BRAKHAGE: AN ANTHOLOGY.)

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Artsy Autopsy Film..., 5 December 2007
4/10
Author: EVOL666 from St. John's Abortion Clinic

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Personally, I didn't really gain a whole lot from THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES. I've noticed a lot of really highly rated reviews on here for the film, and I'm kinda surprised. Maybe I missed something that other reviewers felt "moved" by but I found the film pretty tedious and basically pointless.

The "action" of the film is a bunch of autopsy footage that is filmed in an "art-house" style - lots of extreme close-ups, weird editing, etc...and with no sound or dialogue.

I guess THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES could be considered a study of human anatomy, or maybe (if you really wanna dig a little) some sort of comment on the fragility of humanity or whatever - but I personally found it to be a bunch of semi-interesting but ultimately dull autopsy footage. If that's your thing, then this will be a winner for you. As for me - I've seen more interesting ER footage. Not a "bad" film, as it isn't really a "film" in any traditional sense - I just found nothing really notable about it - 4/10.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A chilling deconstruction of the human form on film., 19 January 1999
10/10
Author: anonymous from Los Angeles

Shot by Mr. B in a busy metropoliton morgue. The recently deceased are prepared for embalming by technicians we barely see. Hands wearing rubber gloves open torsos with scalpels. Heads are opened and brains are removed. Real people are pulled apart and thrown away. Who were they? Who are we? Grainy 16mm color stock. Available light. Moderately long lenses. No sound. No music. Silence.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Visualization to the next level., 24 January 2002
Author: invaliduser from San Francisco

This 30 minute documentary on three human autopsies is one of the most disturbing yet intruiging things that I have ever seen on film. If you can imagine it, they show it. Everything but the corpses faces are shown. But I am willing to bet that if Brakhage was allowed to show the faces he would have. This movie delves into the idea of human curiosity and vision like never done before. A thinker.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Unsettling, yet fascinating..., 16 March 2004
Author: misternuvistor from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This film was quite perturbing to me at first, yet at the same time I was somewhat fascinated, I was tempted to stop watching it, but I stuck it out. It shows in detail the full internals of the human body, and (here's a spoiler) seeing a corpse without any internal organs after an autopsy really shed new light for me on how the human body is designed.

Mr. Brakhage (God rest his soul) has done a gritty, stark, as well as poignant and sad portrait of how human life is so temporary, for want of a better term. It made me wonder how the people on the table in this film died, how they came to be in the Pittsburgh morgue where this was filmed. This film was also a reminder to myself that I should enjoy my life while I can.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Beautiful and disturbing, 13 July 2002
9/10
Author: Patrouillie from Belgium

A beautifully shot film. Suddenly you realise that you are looking at bits of people, an empty skull. A doctor speaking calmly in a microphone, with a bloodstain. The fact that there is no sound makes it even more impressive. Disturbing but fascinating.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
beautiful, 1 December 2001
Author: HansenX from Berkeley, CA

Though many may find this film repulsive, I find it utterly beautiful because of the certain sadness it evokes. The anonymity of the people we see being cut up make us more aware of how fragile human life can be. The lack of sound only adds to the poignancy of the film.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Brakhage's artistic display of color and editing., 21 April 2005
10/10
Author: knicks545 from United States

This film is a truly artistic mastery of the form. Brakhage has succeeded in taking images, that at times can be gruesome, and combined them into a dance of sorts. His mastery of camera movement and editing have created a work that despite it's grotesque imagery, is exciting to look at. The vivid colors, and smooth motion he achieved have a soothing feeling to the viewer, rather than shocking. Through his elegance behind the camera, Brakhage manages to captivate the viewer, not with the images that he shows, rather with the pacing and and style of his work. The choice of no soundtrack either, adds to this trance-like effect experienced from this film. Overall a 10 rating and a masterpiece of Avant-Garde Cinema.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
It's one of the best!, 19 December 2002
9/10
Author: Dust Devil (info@dust-devil.de) from Germany

I've seen a few films like that. For example "Aftermath" from spain etc. But this one - it's finally after 32 years the best one. You hear no sound, no noise, nothing. Your imagination does it for you. The pictures we see are both: beautiful and awful. If you had the chance to see it - take it!!

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1 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
My Fave Film!, 17 March 2003
10/10
Author: Lisa (starskull) from Los Angeles

When asked what my favorite film is, TAOSWOOE is always my response. I saw it several times in film school, and each was a unique experience. For those who haven't seen it, it is a silent color film about 30 minutes long, documenting an autopsy room. The cinematography is absolutely stunning -- the colors are gorgeous, the framing is beautiful. The lack of a sound track, to me, means that the audience becomes the soundtrack. Watching autopsy footage can be very uncomfortable for many -- regardless of your thoughts on death. This discomfort comes out in the audience through repositioning in the seat, coughing or sighing, even laughing. I have tried to find this for years in a version I could take home, although it truly is a theatrical experience. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to view it, don't miss it.

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