Symbiopsychotaxiplasm [Criterion Edition]

In his one-of-a-kind fiction/documentary hybrid Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One, director William Greaves presides over a beleaguered film crew in New York’s Central Park, leaving them to try to figure out what kind of movie they’re making. A couple enacts a break-up scenario over and over, a documentary crew films a crew filming the crew, locals wander casually into the frame: the project defies easy description. Yet this wildly innovative sixties counterculture landmark remains one of the most tightly focused and insightful movies ever made about making movies. Criterion presents this long-unreleased gem in a special two-disc edition, along with its sequel, Take 2½, made thirty-five years later with executive producers Steven Soderbergh and Steve Buscemi.

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

DISC ONE: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One

New high-definition digital transfer
Discovering William Greaves, a new documentary on Greaves’s career, featuring Greaves, his wife and coproducer Louise Archambault, actor Ruby Dee, filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, and film scholar Scott MacDonald
Theatrical trailer
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

DISC TWO: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take 2½
New digital transfer
New video interview with actor Steve Buscemi
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and production notes by Greaves for Take One.