Rebel Angel

Description

REBEL ANGEL
89 minutes. Written, Produced and Directed by Christopher Lowry
Ecotone Productions 2022
One way to read this film is as a portrait documentary, about Ross and Marion Woodman, and if you are a Canadian Jungian you likely know of them both. Perhaps you know something about the important artists that have come from the place they chose to live, the city of London, Ontario. But if you don’t know these figures, and if London, Canada is not part of your world, the film can be read for its exploration of psychological and spiritual matters. It is a study of how individuation flourishes in relationship, sometimes even more so when grounded in place; how identity can be fluid and psyche, always in process; and what happens if your mentor is a sort of trickster, a guide to the land of the dead or, in another mythology, a rebel angel. The poet Keats said that a person’s life can be read as a continuous allegory, and both Ross and Marion Woodman certainly lived as if that was true.

Rebel Angel is about identity, love, dysfunctional families, the redemptive power of art, and the long, relentless reach of mentorship. The film paints a portrait of professor Ross Woodman (1922-2014), Jungian author Marion Woodman, and their extraordinary marriage. A champion of creative imagination, Ross was also an original interpreter of depth psychology in the context of his knowledge of world literature and religions. His generosity as a mentor, and his artistry as a lecturer on the poetry of Blake, Shelley and the Romantics made him unforgettable, life changing. He played a key role in the ‘Regionalist’ art scene in London, Ontario in the 1960s which gave us many of Canada’s most significant artists. Ross accompanied Marion through her journey as a pioneering Jungian analyst who brought the Feminine into depth psychology. Through the prism of Woodman’s troubled life, the film maker explores the dynamic among, love, creativity and madness in movies, poetry and art.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT REBEL ANGEL:
“I laughed, I wept. I was overwhelmed. A glorious celebration and a beautiful film in every way.”
—Karen Mulhallen, Poet, Editor of Descant magazine,
Professor Emeritus Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson)

“So much love there with zero sentimentality! I can’t remember watching a movie like that before.”
—John Hoedl, Jungian Analyst, President of the International Society
for Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority

“Far-reaching… It is a wonderful study of a cultural moment in Canada’s maturing cultural life…
It seemed to say things about you (or me) or anyone who has fallen under
the intense spell of the Romantic vision.”
—Johanne Clare, author and Professor, George Brown College

“I am utterly stunned by the brilliance and beauty and depth of Rebel Angel. Truly a masterpiece. ”
—David Haenke, Poet and Forest Manager, Ozark Regional Land Trust
89 minutes. Written, Produced and Directed by Christopher Lowry
Ecotone Productions 2022

Chris Lowry is an award-winning Toronto-based artist, educator and media producer. In addition to his work on documentary films in the 1980s (Chambers: Tracks and Gestures; October Stranger; Not Dead Yet), he has worked in international development and environmental nonprofits. He co-founded Green Enterprise Toronto (2005-2009), Street Kids International (1988-1998), Razorback Press (1983-86), The Brewers Plate (2008-13), and The Journal of Wild Culture (Ecology and Imagination). He also sings with a band, doing fresh interpretations of the work of great songwriters. The production of Rebel Angel marks Lowry’s return to his first love, film making.