Directed in 1954 by Kenneth Anger, an underground filmmaker known for his homoerotic work, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome is regarded as a major work of American experimental cinema.
The film is a demonic reimagining of Hollywood’s grand style. It draws on influences from both Lachman’s Dante’s Inferno and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, blending sacred ritual with operetta pastiche.
Anger sought to create a sense of being transported to a wondrous world, through the use of colour and dream imagery that gradually progresses towards total subjectivity, as if the viewer were seeing through the eyes of the characters in the midst of a ritual communion.
The film exists in three versions, two dating from 1954 and 1966, featuring music by Leoš Janáček (Glagolitic Mass), and a 1977 version with music by the Electric Light Orchestra (Eldorado).