While recent years have seen some unlikely sequels like “The Barbarian Invasions” and “Before Sunset,” nothing beats “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2.” William Greaves directed “Take One” in 1968, and includes 30 minutes of material from that 70-minute film to account for the fact that no one has seen it. The film is a sometimes interesting, sometimes cloying look at the acting process, as inexperienced actors perform a scene over and over again and their surroundings and relationship reflect their performance. At one point, another woman shows up to play the actor’s psychosis. Meanwhile, the crew wonders what the hell is going on and tape their talks about their reservations.
After half an hour of the original material—the best material in the film—a film festival audience has just watched the movie and Greaves and producer Steve Buscemi talk about the plans for a sequel—to a movie that was never distributed in the first place. In the modern recreation, everything is a bit more forced, but the crew members talk about how it’s forced, so I guess that’s interesting. Greaves comes off as a bit whiney while he’s directing, and the actors give the impression that they’ve grown out of some of the psychological stuff. But it’s worth watching if you want to consider the various degrees of the creative process and nostalgia.
