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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One

Name: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One
Director: William Greaves
Released: 1968
Duration: 75 min

Representation Score

5.9/10

Fair

1968

Not Rated

Director

William Greaves

Runtime

75 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

William Greaves' masterpiece is a radical deconstruction of cinematic conventions. It places Black professionals in positions of technical and creative authority, challenging historical exclusion. The film's meta-cinematic structure uses identity to interrogate filmmaking processes. While it touches on sexual orientation and gendered power, these elements often serve the broader narrative of questioning identity and truth. Ultimately, the work turns the camera on the act of creation itself, challenging the stability of truth and identity.

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Category Breakdown

Does Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

A scene features a female performer challenging the director's sexual orientation, disrupting the director's persona but not exploring LGBTQ+ identity further.

How does Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One portray gender?

Fair

Avoids the submissive femininity cliché of the 1960s by focusing on intellectual and technical processes. Gender dynamics are overshadowed by the broader narrative of the crew and actors.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One?

Excellent

This work stands out for its racial ability to act, featuring a Black director and an all-Black cast, which counters historical exclusion of Black professionals in key roles.

How does Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One represent religion and culture?

Good

Prioritizes postmodern perspectives and deconstructs truth over singular moral frameworks. Critiques objective viewpoints through a sophisticated, non-traditional storytelling approach.

Does Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One include disability representation?

Minimal

No significant depiction of disabilities functions as central narrative drivers in this work.

Present on Screen

Exceptional racial ability to act through a Black director and all-Black professional cast.
Sophisticated disruption of traditional 1960s gender clichés and hierarchies.
Radical meta-cinematic structure that interrogates the nature of identity and truth.

Limited or Absent

Lacks a sustained or character-driven narrative dedicated to LGBTQ+ identities.
Gendered dynamics are often secondary to the broader meta-narrative of filmmaking.
Does not provide explicit depictions of disability within the narrative.

Official Synopsis

In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot the exchange, and another camera records Greaves and his crew. Sometimes we watch the crew discussing this scene, its language, and the process of making a movie. Is there such a thing as natural language? Are all things related to sex? The camera records distractions - a woman rides horseback past them; a garrulous homeless vet who sleeps in the park chats them up. What's the nature of making a movie?

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