RAPE
USA / 1969 / German / B&W / DVD (Original : 16mm) / 78 min
Directors: John Lennon, Yoko Ono
Photography: Nic Knowland
Cast: Eva Majlath
Production Company, Source: Studio One
A camera crew captures the image of a woman strolling through a graveyard, and refuses to let go. They silently and relentlessly follow her. At first, she appears charmed by their attention, but soon she becomes concerned, then afraid. Although the crew does nothing but follow her, they powerfully demonstrate the power and potential violence of the camera’s gaze. Lurking behind the gaze of this camera are directors Yoko Ono and John Lennon.
Born in 1933 in Japan, Yoko Ono is a performance and visual artist, composer, filmmaker, and musician. Associated with the avant-garde Fluxus movement in New York in the early 1960s, she brought feminism and politics to the forefront of her work. She continues to create experimental, subversive, and conceptual art. Famed as a member of the Beatles, John Lennon (1940–80) went on to a solo career in music, writing, and performance art after the group disbanded in 1970, with a strong dimension of political and peace activism.