Cremaster 5

Hungary and United States of America, 1997

Film

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Cremaster 5 (55 min, 1997) is a five-act opera (sung in Hungarian) set in late-ninteenth century Budapest. The last film in the series, Cremaster 5 represents the moment when the testicles are finally released and sexual differentiation is fully attained. The lamenting tone of the opera suggests that Barney invisions this as a moment of tragedy and loss. The primary character is the Queen of Chain (played by Ursula Andress). Barney, himself, plays three characters who appear in the mind of the Queen: her Diva, Magician, and Giant. The Magician is a stand-in for Harry Houdini, who was born in Budapest in 1874 and appears as a recurring character in the Cremaster cycle.

Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

Credits

costume design

Karen Young

Linda LaBelle

producer

Barbara Gladstone

Matthew Barney

Duration

55:00

Production dates
1997

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

tmdb-movie-36702

Language

Hungarian

Subject categories

Drama

Music

TMDB-Movie

36702

Wikidata

Q5790733

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/80045--cremaster-5/ |title=Cremaster 5 |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=16 July 2026 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}