#18, Mahagonny

Smith’s final film was an epic four?screen 16mm projection titled MAHAGONNY. He worked on this cinematic transformation of the Weill/Brecht opera for over ten years and considered it his magnum opus. Shot from 1970 to 1972 and edited for the next eight years, the ‘program’ of the film is meticulous, with a complex structure and order. The Weill opera is transformed into a numerological and symbolic system. Images in the film are divided into the categories portraits, animation, symbols and nature, to form the palindrome P.A.S.A.N.A.S.A.P.Smith’s New York is a place where everything is permitted and the only sin is not having enough money. Much of the action takes place within the Chelsea Hotel. The film contains invaluable portraits of avant garde figures such as Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Jonas Mekas.