Featuring stylized visual storytelling, this rarely seen film by famed experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage was produced for the Colorado Department of Public Relations and is one of two films (the other being “Colorado Legend”) to explore Colorado myths. This film tells the story of the Ute people and the tension between the youth, “the Braves”, and an elder, “Smoking Water”. While the footage and cultural objects are provided by the University of Colorado Museum and Denver Art Museum, the imagery and scenes of the indigenous Ute people are heavily stylized and stereotypical.

00:10 State of Colorado seal graphic. “Nil sine numine” 00:18 Pan to tree top. “Ballad of the Colorado Ute” title. Narrated by Fred Arthur. Music Composed by Mark Spencer. Music Performed by Mary Fowler, Chuck Smith, Barbara Woolard. Sound Engineer: Joseph Jackson. 00:36 Photography, Editing, and Pictorial Continuity by Stan Brakhage. 00:40 Supervised for the Colorado Department of Public Relations by Hal Haney. 00:43 Written and directed by Stan Phillips.

00:55 Montage of natural footage in Colorado. 01:16 Berries fall to ground. 01:18 Brush billow in wind by stream. 01:31 Wooden dam in water. 01:37 Close up of water. 01:49 Beaver swims. 01:56 Dam in river. 02:03 Landscape of rocky mountain. 02:18 Overlay of pipe over landscape footage. 02:41 Zoom into starry night sky. 02:46 Smoke wisps. 02:50 Artistic depiction of Smoking Water, a Ute man. He sits, smokes pipe 03:13 And plays bone whistle. 03:27 Artistic footage of bow and arrows. 03:41 Montage: Smoking Water, pipe, whistle, and bow and arrows. 04:29 Artistically arrange footage of natural world. 04:42 Snare overlay on beaver footage. 04:50 Beaver leather laid on fur. 04:53 Turkeys run. 04:58 Turkey meat laid out. 05:01 Fish splayed on hay. 05:11 Smoking Water. 05:15 Berries on ground are mashed. 05:25 Deer graze in brush. 05:29 Meat tossed on table. 05:33 Montage: artistic layering of natural footage. 06:04 Water poured from clay pot. 06:08 Broth ladled in pot with turkey. 06:26 Smoking Water, whistle, pipe, bow montage. 07:15 Arrow heads fade into red smoke. 07:28 Smoking Water. 07:41 Pan over snowy rocks. 07:47 Smoking Water. 07:54 Frozen stream trickles. 08:01 Axe chops meat. 08:07 Beaver runs. 08:09 Natural montage. 08:18 Arrows and bows shake. 08:25 Flashes of close up: leather moccasins, fur clothing, hair, arrow. 08:43 Drums being beat. 08:57 Clothing, drum, and Smoking Water flash montage. 09:20 Bow is drawn back and fired. 09:51 Mallet. 09:52 Blurred visuals of previous footage. 10:17 Landscape of forest, mountain in distance. 10:25 Bone whistle overlay on footage of trees. 10:30 Time lapse of cloudy sky above tree line. 10:36 Zoom into Quaking Aspen forest. 10:57 Overlay of bows firing on forest. 11:37 Red tinted footage of weapons, artistically distorted. 12:14 Artistic montage: flashing object close ups overlay nature footage. 12:36 Water flowing. 12:44 Close up of bones. 12:53 Time lapse: Mountain. 12:57 Landscape: Silhouetted trees, mountains in distance. 13:03 Montage of mountains. 13:21 Trees bend in winter storm. 13:26 Close up of bones fades into montage of icy visuals (icicles, snow). 13:38 Forest amid snow storm. 13:41 Snow covered forest floor. 13:46 Mountain surrounded by gray sky and clouds. 14:00 Pan up to gray sky. 14:05 Snow covered branches, brush, and foliage. 14:13 Berries on stone. 14:21 Pan over tree covered hills. 14:37 Food packet opened. 14:56 Fast spin over snowy landscape. 15:02 Snowy valley. 15:06 Smoking Water overlaid over snowy stream. 15:47 Smoke rises. 15:51 Water poured out of vase. 16:02 Spring landscape of mountain and forest. 16:06 Pan: Foliage to smoking water in hot spring. 16:16 Smoking Water. 16:22 Montage: Various plants and herbs. 16:34 Quivering Aspen forest below mountain range. 16:39 Flower covered hillside, mountain in background. 16:44 Open fields and forests below mountain range. 16:54 “A Western Cine Production, Denver”. 16:59 State of Colorado seal.

James Stanley Brakhage (1933 – 2003), better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American experimental filmmaker. Brakhage’s work included cutting edge explorations of the film format, including playing with its physical nature — some of his work relied on painting directly on celluloid or damaging or scratching it. Collage and multi-layered dissolve techniques were also hallmarks. Themes Brakhage explored included myth and folklore, innocence, birth and death, and sexuality.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com