Ganja & Hess (1973) - Bill Gunn

Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess is a film that is best described as a fever dream, an experimental blend of overlapping image, sound, and voiceover thats power is best achieved in its ability to be at times, a very uncomfortable viewing experience.  The film's narrative isn't particularly easy to follow, but it tells the story of Dr. Hess Grreen, an anthropologist of ancient African cutlure who is stabbed by an ancient object, which slowly transforms him into a man with an insatiable thirst for human blood.  Being a very low-budget independent film, Ganja & Hess can be difficult to follow from a narrative perspective, but how Bill Gunn uses vampirism to explore African assimilation into while culture is truly impressive.  Ganja & Hess is a highly ambitious experimental film with a lot to say, and while I'd argue that some of it is a little incoherent at times, the way Hess makes his argument through surrealism and experimental filmmaking displays an extremely talented filmmaker with fresh perspective and full of of ingenuity.  Perhaps my biggest problem with Ganja & Hess is that it meanders a little too much at times, but when the film does get more focused it can be very impressive, having a transfixing-like quality through its use of overwhelming sound and imagery.   One aspect of Ganja & Hess I particularly liked is how it explores the difference between teaching and learning, showing how teaching can effectively be a form of repression where the teacher's voice corrupts the ability for true learning of the student, with Gunn clearly drawing parallels to white imperialism over African cutlure.  Played with vigor by Marlene Clark, Ganja represents the voice of descent against cultural assimilation ,a woman who begins to fall in love with Dr. Hess, who refuses to not be herself.  Ganja doesn't show up for approximately the first 30 mintues of the movie, and it's her arrival that elevates the movie, being where Gunn begins to truly express what he wants to say.  Anyone going into Ganja & Hess expecting a typical horror film is bound to be disappointed, but for those more experimental filmgoers, Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess is a well-crafted film with plenty of ingenuity, raising some though provoking questions about cultural assimilation.  

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