Matthew Barney: No Restraint

If multimedia artist Matthew Barney's DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 left you confounded like no film since, well, Barney's CREMASTER series, Alison Chernick's insightful and surprisingly accessible making-of documentary provides welcome help. Barney's 103-minute film follows the crew of the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru as it leaves port for a months-long whaling expedition. Two Western "guests" (Barney and his wife, Bjork) are along for the ride and are stripped of their conventional clothing, dressed in a strange version of traditional Japanese gear and invited to a tea ceremony. After the ceremony, they embrace and, as the room fills with water, carve away at ea...