Ganja & Hess (DVD)

Directed by Bill Gunn

Release Year: 1973

Running Time: 113

UPC: 7 38329 08492 9

Color Type: Color

Country: U.S.

Language: English

Genres: Horror, Culture, Cult, American Independent, African-American

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Cast

Mabel King
Leonard Jackson
Sam Waymon
Duane Jones
Marlene Clark
Bill Gunn

Crew

Writer Bill Gunn
Produced by Chiz Schults
Directed by Bill Gunn

Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and horror, Bill Gunn’s revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), bestowing upon him the blessing of immortality... and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant’s beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her missing husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power blood holds.

Later recut and released in an inferior version, this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative.

DVD Extras Include:

Mastered in HD from the newly restored 35mm negative
“The Blood of the Thing” (29 min.), an interview-based documentary produced for the 1998 DVD release
Audio commentary by producer Chiz Schultz, actress Marlene Clark, cinematographer James Hinton, and composer Sam Waymon
Original screenplay by Bill Gunn (DVD-ROM access only)
Essay on the making of the film (and subsequent recutting) by David Walker and Tim Lucas (DVD-ROM access only)
Photo gallery

"A sensual, scholarly, magic-realist exploration of black history and black desire."

– A. O. Scott, The New York Times

"An underground classic! The most complicated, intriguing, subtle, sophisticated and passionate black film of the '70s."

– James Monaco, American Film Now

"A blood-soaked masterpiece. One of the most profound, surreal and horrifying love stories ever made."

– Complex

"A visionary filmmaker."

– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Official Selection Cannes Film Festival

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Duane Jones as Dr. Hess Green and Marlene Clark as Ganja Meda in Bill Gunn's GANJA & HESS.

Duane Jones as Dr. Hess Green in Bill Gunn's GANJA & HESS.

The late Bill Gunn, who wrote, directed, and co-starred in GANJA & HESS.

Sam Waymon, seen here as Reverend Luther Williams, also composed and performed the wildly imaginative score for Bill Gunn's GANJA & HESS.

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