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'{{Infobox Film | name = Empire | image = | image_size = | caption = | director = [[Andy Warhol]] | producer = [[Andy Warhol]] | writer = | narrator = | starring = | music = | cinematography = [[Jonas Mekas]] | editing = | distributor = | released = 1964 | runtime = 485 minutes | country = {{USA}} | language = Silent film | budget = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = | amg_id = | imdb_id = 0196530 }} '''''Empire''''' ([[1964 in film|1964]]) is a [[silent film|silent]], black and white film made by [[Andy Warhol]]. It consists of eight hours and five minutes of continuous [[Real-time (media)|real time]] footage of the [[Empire State Building]] in [[New York City]]. Abridged showings of the film were never allowed, and supposedly the very unwatchability of the film was an important part of the reason the film was created. However, a legitimate Italian [[VHS]] produced in association with the [[Andy Warhol Museum]] in 2000 contains only an extract of 60 minutes. Its use of the [[long take]] ''in extremis'' is an extension of Warhol's earlier work the previous year with ''[[Sleep (film)|Sleep]]''. It was filmed on the night of July 25-26 from 8:06 p.m. to 2:42 a.m. from the 41st floor of the [[Time-Life Building]], from the offices of the [[Rockefeller Foundation]]. It was shot at 24 frames per second but is projected at 16 fps, so that, even though only about 6 hours and 40 minutes of film was made, the film when screened is about 8 hours and 5 minutes long. The film begins with a totally white screen and as the sun sets, the image of the Empire State Building emerges. The floodlights on its exterior come on, the building's lights flicker on and off for the next 6 1/2 hours, then the floodlights go off again in the next to the last reel so that the remainder of the film takes place in nearly total darkness. <ref>. {{cite book | last = Angell | first = Callie | year = 1994 | title = The Films of Andy Warhol Part II | url = http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0006P70ZM | id = ASIN B0006P70ZM | page = 16 }}</ref> The movie was filmed with Andy Warhol directing and filmmaker [[Jonas Mekas]] working as cinematographer. During three of the reel changes, filming recommenced before the lights in the filming room were switched off, making the faces of Warhol and Mekas momentarily visible in the reflection of the window each time. <ref name="NY Art">{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/art/10422/ |title=A Controversy Over ''Empire'' |accessdate=2008-11-10|work=NY Art}}</ref> In [[2004]], ''Empire'' was added to the [[National Film Registry]] in the [[Library of Congress]] in recognition of the [[culture|cultural]], [[history|historical]] and [[aesthetic]] significance of the movie, as well as the risk of the original movie [[reel]] "no longer being preserved" (even though the Andy Warhol Museum's own preservation of the huge Warhol film/videotape catalogue is somewhat unique in the world of [[underground film]]). In 2007, website [[Nerve (website)|Nerve]] selected ''Empire'' as one of "The Thirteen Greatest Long-Ass Movies of All Time"<ref>https://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/screengrab/archive/2007/12/12/the-thirteen-greatest-long-ass-movies-of-all-time-part-2.aspx</ref>. ==Showings== In 2005, the film was projected in its entirety on the external wall of the [[Royal National Theatre]]'s fly tower in London.<ref name="Guardian.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/sep/18/arts.film |title=Warhol's art film to lull London to sleep |accessdate=2008-11-12|work=Guardian.co.uk}}</ref> <ref name="BBC News">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4318648.stm |title=Warhol film ''Empire'' makes UK debut |accessdate=2008-11-12|work=BBC News}}</ref> ==See also== * [[List of American films of 1964]] * [[Andy Warhol filmography]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/art/10422/ Article on unauthorized release] * [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=89507 Moma article] * [http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/empire.html Article on ''Empire''] * {{imdb title|id=0196530|title=Empire}} [[Category:1964 films|Empire]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:Avant-garde and experimental films]] [[Category:United States National Film Registry films|Empire]] [[Category:Films over eight hours long]] [[Category:Films directed by Andy Warhol]] [[Category:Black and white films]] [[Category:Silent films]] [[Category:Independent films]] [[cs:Empire (film, 1964)]] [[de:Empire (Film)]] [[fr:Empire (1964)]] [[pl:Empire (1964 film)]] [[ru:Империя (фильм, 1964)]]'