AllMovie

Renowned experimental artist Matthew Barney directs this lyrical, challenging work about America, mythology, and death. Believing that his grandmother had an affair with Harry Houdini (Norman Mailer), noted murderer Gary Gilmore (Barney) wanders through the afterlife -- depicted here as a gold-colored honeycomb maze filled with two-stepping cowboys and rodeos -- hoping to find the magician. In the process, Barney constructs a personal narrative from elements and symbols of the American west. Cremaster 2 was shot on high-definition digital video and transferred to 35mm.