Les Blank: Always for Pleasure (#737)

An uncompromisingly independent filmmaker, Les Blank made documentaries for nearly fifty years, elegantly disappearing with his camera into cultural spots rarely seen on-screenmostly on the peripheries of the United States, but also occasionally abroad. Seemingly off-the-cuff yet poetically constructed, these films are humane, sometimes wry, always engaging tributes to music, food, and all sorts of regionally specific delights. This collectors set provides a diverse survey of Les Blanks vast output, including fourteen of his best-known works and eight related short films.

• 1968
• 563 minutes
• Color
• 1.33:1
• English
• Spine #737

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K digital restorations of all fourteen films, with uncompressed monaural or stereo soundtracks on the Blu-rays:
  The Blues Accordin to Lightnin Hopkins(1968 31 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Soon after founding his production company, Flower Films, Les Blank got up close to the legendary Texas blues musician Lightnin Hopkins for this rollicking film.
  God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance(1968 20 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Blank took his camera to the historic 1967 Easter Sunday love-in in Los Angeles for this immersive, even spiritual collage of a film.
  Spend It All(1971 43 minutes Color Monaural In English and French with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Blank journeys down the bayous and byways of Southwest Louisiana in this riveting portrait of the regions Cajun community.
  A Well Spent Life(1971 44 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Musician Mance Lipscomb commands the screen in Blanks vivid sketch of a man some consider the greatest blues guitarist who ever lived.
  Dry Wood(1973 37 minutes Color Monaural In English and French with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Blank ventured back to Southwest Louisiana for this work of ramshackle beauty, an immersion in the regions black Creole community that teems with delightful detail.
  Hot Pepper(1973 54 minutes Color Monaural In English and French with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) This is an energetic portrait of the Grammy-winning Creole musician Clifton Chenier, a.k.a. the King of Zydeco; Blank beautifully captures his musics propulsive, foot-tapping joy.
  Always for Pleasure(1978 57 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Blanks raucous tribute to the sights, sounds, and flavors of New Orleans is perhaps his most sustained representation of pure joy.
  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers(1980 50 minutes Color Monaural In English and Spanish with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) More than just a nonfiction lark, Blanks highly personal film ode to the stinking rose is a loving tribute both to a food that unites the most disparate of cuisines and to the East Bay, California, community that appears on-screen.
  Sprout Wings and Fly(1983 30 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) This is a warm depiction of the life of old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
  In Heaven There Is No Beer?(1984 49 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) A cinematic jamboree, this film finds Blank in a characteristically jubilant mode as he explores polka happiness and the Polish American polka subculture.
  Gap-Toothed Women(1987 31 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Blank breezily questions our commonly accepted standards of beauty with this paean to women with extra-wide dental spaces.
  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking(1990 31 minutes Color Monaural In English and French with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) Accordionist Marc Savoy and his family and friends show us how to make goo courtbouillon, gumbo, touffe, boudin, and other Cajun and Creole delights.
  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists(1994 53 minutes Color Monaural 1.33:1 aspect ratio) This portrait of the free-spirited painter and singing cowboy Gerald Gaxiola is a testament to creativity unencumbered by commerce.
  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella(1995 34 minutes Color Stereo In English and Spanish with English subtitles 1.33:1 aspect ratio) The impassioned rhythms of Francisco Aguabellas conga propel this portrait of the great Afro-Cuban percussionist.
• Excerpt fromLes Blank: A Quiet Revelation,a film project by Harrod Blank and Gina Leibrecht
• New interviews with Blanks sons, Harrod and Beau; Blank documentary subject Gerald Gaxiola (a.k.a. the Maestro); Blanks friends and collaborators Skip Gerson, Maureen Gosling, Taylor Hackford, Werner Herzog, Susan Kell, Tom Luddy, David Silberberg, and Chris Simon; and chef and author Alice Waters
• Related shorts by Blank:The Suns Gonna Shine(1968),More Fess(1978),Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge(1991),My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge(1994), andThe Maestro Rides Again(2005)
• Two outtake performances fromThe Blues Accordin to Lightnin Hopkins
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Andrew Horton
  
  New cover by Eric Skillman