Character Relationship Map: Cremaster 3

Characters

• Hiram Abiff (played by Richard Serra) — antagonist

  The Architect, an antagonistic force in the Chrysler Building narrative whose conflict with the Apprentice culminates in their mutual death.

• The Entered Apprentice (played by Matthew Barney) — protagonist

  The Apprentice who alters the building's foundations, escapes the Architect's forces, climbs the tower, and participates in a Masonic initiation.

• Fionn MacCumhail (played by Peter Donald Badalamenti II) — supporting

  A figure from Celtic legend whose story is recalled at the end of Cremaster 3.

• Fingal (played by The Mighty Biggs) — supporting

  A figure listed among the Celtic mythological characters associated with Cremaster 3.

• Cloud Club Barman (played by Terry Gillespie) — supporting

  The Cloud Club bartender who participates in a burlesque comedy with the Apprentice.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Fionn MacCumhail → Fingal (Conflict Mythic Enemies) — Their legendary conflict is recalled in the closing passage, where Fionn throws a rock that forms the Isle of Man.

  The ending recalls the legend in which Fionn drives his enemy, the Scottish giant Fingal, out of Ireland.

• The Entered Apprentice → Cloud Club Barman (Social Burlesque Performance Partners) — They participate in the film's comic bar scene before the Apprentice is arrested.

  At the Cloud Club, a scene is described as a burlesque comedy between the bartender and the Apprentice.

• The Entered Apprentice → Hiram Abiff (Conflict Antagonist) — Their conflict unfolds through the building's construction and the Masonic initiation narrative, culminating in their mutual death.

  The plot describes the Architect and the Apprentice as antagonistic forces in the Chrysler Building. The Apprentice kills the Architect, and both die...

Story Analysis

The film intertwines the Chrysler Building's construction, an Apprentice's Masonic initiation, and the conflict between the Apprentice and the Architect, framed by Celtic myth.

Plot Progression

1. Foundations of the Tower — After a prologue drawn from Celtic mythology, the narrative moves to the Chrysler Building's foundations. The Apprentice manipulates the building's materials and crushes a car beneath cement-filled Im...
2. The Cloud Club Ordeal — The Apprentice shares a burlesque comedy with the Cloud Club bartender. He is then arrested by contract killers, who pull out his teeth and take him to a dental office for an operation involving the c...
3. The Architect's Ascent — The Architect constructs pillars recalling those of Solomon's Temple while the Apprentice escapes and climbs the tower. The Architect ascends through the roof oculus and unites with his project as the...
4. Initiation and Mutual Death — The initiation rites become a game at the Guggenheim Museum, where the Apprentice climbs a ramp while avoiding obstacles. Back at the Chrysler Building, he kills the Architect and dies in the process.
5. The Isle of Man Legend — The ending recalls the Celtic legend of Fionn and his enemy Fingal. Fionn's thrown rock falls into the Irish Sea and forms the Isle of Man.