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Every once in a while a movie comes along that captures a cultural moment. And, sometimes, that same movie can also offer insights into subcultures long forgotten. And, with a backward glance, the moving images and sounds seem to act as a unified predictor. A film like this becomes a touchstone to our past. A link from our current to a past that often feels foreign and alien. This is one such movie…
"This is as far as the elevator goes."
Slava Tsukerman, 1982
It was in August of 1982 that Slava Tsukerman's notorious cult film, Liquid Sky, debuted at Montreal World Film Festival. Heads were turned, jaws dropped and the festival awarded the Special Jury Prize to the director. The film went on to receive several other key Art Film Festival awards. Sadly the movie received a minimal theatrical release. In the US it did manage to strike a chord and secure a following via its VHS release. Liquid Sky has become an essential Cult Film. The fact that it continues to be challenging to track down and watch have only added to its allure within the Cult Film Cannon.
This is not your average low-budget movie. The filmmaker, his wife and his cinematographer were fresh from The Soviet Union. They had managed to find a way to New York City to make a movie. It wasn't long before they were collaborating with a performance artist who seemed to be on the fast track to stardom within the underworld of the Post-Punk/New Wave club scene. This history of the film's 28 day production story can be found across the span of The Internet. The key here is understanding that this Russian filmmaker captured a moment both fantastic and scary. He may not have had a big budget, but he most certainly had a big cinematic vision filled with ideas and aspirations.
Cinematography | Yuri Neyman
There are a couple of crucial elements which blast the viewer within the first three minutes of Liquid Sky:
A human face framed within a sphere of neon light that reveals itself to be a mask of sorts.
The music sounds vintage early '80's, but is just slightly off-key and deeply odd — even a bit altogether off.
The Twin Towers / Empire State Building skyline (the lower midtown perspective?) is not only familiar — it is iconic. And yet, there is a myst of fog that seems sort of wrong.
A flying saucer hovers toward the screen.
Unhappy people in a darkly grim club jerk and dance about. The beats indicate fun, the melody warns danger and the people look more focused than happy.
Welcome to Slava Tsukerman's Liquid Sky. This cult film is respected for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most important and immediate is the use of electronic music. The often discordantly familiar mixed with unique samplings of dialogue and other bits of music make it completely unique. We are hearing one of the earliest uses of the first true digital sampler keyboards and it is scoring the entire movie. These are the sounds of the Fairlight CMI Series 1 that pulsate out from the screen. The music manages to be at once primitive and complex. It is sinister, but with the slightest twinge of pop happy beats.This very well might be the first example of ElectroClash. The Fairlight CMI Series 1 was not actually new, but not many musicians owned them and even fewer knew how to play/use the digital sampling keyboard.
Stephen Paine demonstrated and sold The Fairlight CMI Series One to both Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel on the same day.
EMI, London, 1978
Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush were among the first few musicians to actually purchase and pursue the use of the instrument. The Fairlight CMI gave life to Peter Gabriel's 1980 album and his 1982 Deutsches Album. It played an even stronger role in giving Kate Bush's sonic visions live for both Never for Ever and The Dreaming albums. And in fact it is easy to state that the sounds and looks of Liquid Sky have served as influence for a number of creative artists.
When actress, Paula E. Sheppard, takes the club's darkly lit stage — she is straddling a cumbersome sort of electronic box. It might appear that her mic is broadcasting the inner workings of her chest, but her heartbeat has been sampled. It pulsates from her electronic box. As she lifts that microphone up towards her vexingly beautiful and malicious face she begins an odd bit of what I would call "Slam Poetry." She seems to threaten her club audience with her words. While the verses to "Me and My Rhythm Box" might be pretentious — they are also oddly effective. In another actor and filmmakers' hands this scene could have been painfully bad. But here, within the confines of Liquid Sky — this drone and wail of a song plays energetically and deeply weird. This is electronic music with a purpose. The cheesy happiness of 1980's MTV is not present. Nor will you notice any of the ironic No-Wave disco-threat of Blondie. Slava Tsukerman and his synth composers — Brenda I. Hutchinson and Clive Smith — are in total and complete step with their filmmaker's vision. Liquid Sky 's musical score is totally unique, worrying and unforgettable.
"Me and my rhythm box.
Are you jealous, folks?
My rhythm box is sweet.
Never forgets a beat…"
Paula E. Sheppard rocks the mic at The Pyramid Club, East Village NYC, c. 1981
I suppose some might disagree, but it isn't a far leap to realize that what we are seeing and hearing would go on to influence artists lucky enough to secure a copy of Media Home Entertainment's highly prized VHS tape. You should not jump to judge my assertion until you have seen this movie and compared it to early sounds/looks of artists like Fischerspoon, Miss Kittin & The Hacker as well as pop-sensation Lady Gaga.
Liquid Sky Influencing Electroclash
"Hi Huh-I Hyper
Hyper-media-ocrity
You don't need to
Emerge from nothing
You don't need to tear away! Feels good
Looks good Sounds good Looks good Feels good too…"
Fischerspooner, Emerge, 2001
Paula E. Sheppard's Adrian is performing not on a set, but in a very real Post-Punk/New Wave NYC Underground club. The Pyramid was where Tsukerman filmed all of the movie's club scenes. This club is legendary and has served as home to a number of NYC subcultures for decades. The lower East Village hole-in-the-wall could tell us an unlimited number of stories. At one time a home to NYC PUNKS then to their Post-PUNK / New Wave offspring and on toward to both the American Hardcore and GLBTI NYC communities.
By 2006 Pyramid Club presents PUNK by way of nostalgia… No wave here.
The Radicts and The Bruisers
Pyramid Club advert, 2006
Adrian's musical performance and jaded delivery hold up to the likes of Miss Kittin and The Hacker. While she may not have the ability to fully utilize her rhythm box as well as Miss Kittin or Fischerspooner — both owe this film a nod for their sounds that would lead us into the ElectroClash sound of the early '00's. And it makes sense. Adrian is attempting to thrive within the dystopia of post-70's NYC. This is Ed Koch's nightmare of a city. As grim as it was — it did provide some surprisingly cheap housing options and opportunities.
Liquid Sky inspires…
"Every night with my star friends. We eat caviar and drink champagne. Sniffing in the VIP area we talk about Frank Sinatra.
Do you know Frank Sinatra? He's dead…"
Miss Kittin & Hacker
The First Album, 2001
It was not off the Manhattan grid, but it was not an area that most would have cared to have roamed after sunset. The club offered risk of danger and lent an edge to an evening of clubbing before the fall of the Berlin Wall and during the cruel leadership of Ronald Reagan. As Debbie Harry sang on her 1989 album:
"Darkness falls like a black leather jacket and melts into the sidewalk like a sleeping drunk. In the streets, the wind throws yesterday's headlines around.
Another night comes and goes. So, for awhile back then there was someplace to go.
Somewhere more home than a house. A family of choice, not an accident, but sometimes as soon as something gets started it's over.
Now the days are much shorter and the people from the good part of town all come around, but the something is missing even though there's more there now.
I shrug off my attempts to explain how a torn T-shirt made it all danger again…" Debbie Harry, End of the Run, 1989
The Ultimate Queen of NYC PUNK / Post-PUNK / New Wave
Photograph | Arthur Elgort, 1989
Now Ms. Harry would have been referring to CBGB's or MUDD Club, but it is important to note that Pyramid Club might not have been on the radar of the darlings of the NYC PUNK / POST-PUNK or New Wave of 1981 — but in perhaps an even more important way — Pyramid Club was home to the many clubbers who couldn't quite make it to the big rooms of those more anti-popular clubs. And it was within Pyramid's walls that some very real shit went down.
No. This is not Lady Gaga, but the looks / sounds may have inspired her.
It is likely that Blondie's lead singer walked through Pyramid doors at some point. Most certainly it is likely that Madonna ventured there. Liquid Sky features Otto von Wernherr in the role of the German astrophysicist who is the only person aware of an alien presence that has invaded the home of the film's two main characters. Wernherr was a musician / actor / artist and fixture of the late 70's / early 80's NYC Downtown Scene and an early Madonna collaborator. That collaboration was already happening as Liquid Sky was filmed.
The more famous attempt to capture the NYC underground Post-Punk/New Wave movement is actually less revealing than what is found in Liquid Sky…
Debbie Harry & Jean-Michel Basquiat
Downtown 81 / New York Beat Movie
Edo Bertoglio, 1981/2000
Cinematography | John McNulty
If Liquid Sky's Adrian character is the symbol of artist, then the character of Margaret is more closely tied to the artist who yearns for success and validation that is almost impossible to secure. We know immediately that Anne Carlisle's Margaret is a model. She is also Adrian's promiscuous lover and flatmate. As Adrian performs with her rhythm box, Margaret is backstage prepping for a fashion show. A show that will be taking place in the club. The other models seem only to be in background of Margaret's beauty. The only model who challenges her is an effeminate gay man, Jimmy.
"Are you going to come to my roof tomorrow night?"
Anne Carlisle x 2
At first glance he seems to be Margaret's doppelgänger. The then up and coming performance artist, Anne Carlisle, is playing both Margaret and Jimmy. To Slava Tsukerman's credit, the dual roles are only obvious when the film wants it to be. Tightly and cleverly edited, Margaret and Jimmy are two very different characters. Margaret and Jimmys' fashion show takes place within minutes of the film's beginning.
Striking a pose…
Anne Carlisle
This fashion sequence serves as not only a set-up for the film's oddly complex world, it also pulls us into the era in which the film was made. While these models look like what we might associate with the very early 1980's — it is important to note that these "looks" were ahead of the cultural curve in 1981. When I first saw this movie in 1983, these models/actors looked absolutely other-worldly. Their painted faces, geometric clothing and posing were all new to my eyes. While they might have shared some similarity with Adam Ant, Missing Persons, Bow Wow Wow, Boy George and Flock of Seagulls — the people on the screen offer no semblance of charity or fun. This clique is hard-edged and seemed almost intent on menace.
"Something strange is going on here."
These hipsters want your attention, but they are not willing to beg for it. Just the opposite, these models and their respective looks are daring us not to give them our attention. The colors may be bright neon and they might be covered with make-up, but these danger boys and girls are out for blood. This is not just a fashion show — it is almost a declaration of war.
Dare you not to look and love me…
Benjamin Liu
Also within minutes of the film's start we figure out that there is a lot more going down than performance, fashion and clubbing. Adrian is an established heroin dealer. That human face mask hangs in she and Margaret's penthouse apartment. This work of art offers dual meaning. It is the same face shared by both Margaret and Jimmy. It is also not a mask — it is the holding/hiding place for Adrian's supply of heroin. A supply that she sells to everyone from uptown artsy folks but to everyone within her orbit. Margaret might be the only person in Adrian's world who has no interest in the power of her powdered sky just waiting to be heated into milk for injection.
So here we have a film that is about clubbing, strutting and drugs. Where does the Sci-Fi element come in?
"Are you sure this has something to do with UFO's?"
No one can ever accuse Slava Tsukerman of constructing a slow-moving film. We witness the arrival of invaders from space within minutes of the movie's beginning. Liquid Sky's construction is tight and unusual. Things happen simultaneously. They also happen with minimal explanation or character development. In most cases this approach would stunt a film, but it is one of Liquid Sky's magical elements. I should note that I first saw this film when I was 16 years of age. This might seem a great trip movie, but it is not. As trippy as the film is it is not conducive to positive altered state viewing. The paranoia, cruelty and perversities work against the fun aspect of a stoned age viewing. It is most likely due to my state at the time I first saw Liquid Sky that I did not understand the invasion from space plot twister.
"In the beginning Aliens were spotted in places with large amounts of heroin. Later Aliens appeared in specific subcultures — punk circles. Still around heroin, but in these circles even more. Strange deaths have occurred…"
We see the alien flying saucer arrive at nearly the same time we meet Adrian, Margaret and Jimmy. We also are given the alien's perspective as it approaches the rooftop of Adrian and Margarets' penthouse apartment. Most cleverly we are also given a view of the alien itself. The alien and its space ship interior. Both perspectives are truly psychedelic. But how does the introduction of alien invasion, surveillance, fashion, music, drug use/abuse and sexuality anchor Liquid Sky to the subcultures within which the film is placed?
"Where are the drugs?"
Paula E. Sheppard
Most likely it was never Tsukerman's intention to create a film that we can now view as a sort of chronicle of the NYC Post-Punk/New Wave subculture. And it is most certainly sure that he never intended the movie to serve as a signal predicting the horrors of the AIDS epidemic. Wether intentional or not, there should be no denying the film's ability to do both things. Liquid Sky is a low-budget film with big budget aspirations. It is essentially a science fiction horror movie, but its genre goals are almost buried beneath a polarizing depiction of the New York City Underground Club scene of 1981. It is a depiction that stings and slips under the viewer's skin.
"Jimmy is the new Miss. America! he has all the mannerisms of a sex symbol."
At first, in 1981, it seemed that a disease was being caught / spread by members of the gay community. It was quickly becoming an outbreak. Initially the sicknesses was coined as The 4H Disease as the syndromes seemed to be inflicting homosexual men, heroin users, hemophiliacs and Haitians. Despite some obvious signs, that initial name did not catch on as well as GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) It wasn't long before the CDS realized this was not an illness restricted to any one segment of the population. Certainly those living in cities like New York were realizing this long before the tragic epidemic was assigned the name AIDS in July of 1982. But in 1981 the young people populating the New York City Underground had not yet fully grasped the meaning of what was beginning to strike their respective communities. Paranoia and fear were already running rampant for a number of socio-political reasons. Liquid Sky captures an artistic world caught in the magic and the horror of the era.
"Homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual. Whether or not I like someone doesn't depend on the kind of genitalia they have. As long as I find someone attractive. Don't you think?
The world of Liquid Sky takes place in the rag-tag world of the Artist as Outsider. More specifically, the world of Tsukerman's film is concerned with outsiders and misfits. As in reality, the world of the arts is populated with youth, creativity and sexual experimentation. Sexuality is either fluid or leaning toward homosexuality. The Post-PUNK/New Wave NYC subculture is tightly connected to the pulse of the NYC Gay subculture. And both are freely connected to sex, drugs, music and art. Liquid Sky has a morality, but it is based in humanism rather than in the political.
Early on we watch Margaret attempt to seduce her male counterpart, Jimmy. It is here we are granted a cruel view of misogyny. It isn't that Jimmy is just turned off by the idea of fucking a woman — he makes it fairly clear that he detests women across the board. He treats Margaret as if she were nothing more than a link to drugs. Margaret has a tough shell, but something about Jimmy's cruelty eggs her on toward him. This seems to be a girl who is not used to being turned down. Despite his cruelty she is unwilling to write the mean queen off.
The only character who seems concerned with any other's sexual preference is Adrian's uptown client. A failing artist who seems to have once clung to the idea that heroin will spark his artistic vision is now just uncomfortably numb. He finds Margaret's androgynous beauty alluring, but he is far too concerned regarding her sexual preference. To Margaret and Adrian this junkie is normal and dull.
"What kind of drugs will you have?"
Adrian clearly identifies as lesbian and seems to be disgusted by Margaret's promiscuity. And like Margaret she too has dreams of fame and success. Both women are damaged, but while Margaret has soaked up her sadness — Adrian funnels an insane level of sadness and rage into her work. Theirs is a dysfunctional relationship beyond reason, but they seem to cling to each other. Sex is merely fun and a tool. All of these characters trade in sex and shared works. Adrian is repulsed by the idea of her client wanting to have sex with Margaret but is totally cool with sharing her spoon, syringe and rubber band. Margaret attempts to procure cocaine by snuggling up to straight dude at the club. In the end she is brutally raped. She seems to accept this act of cruelty as a dark part of her life with which she must deal. She also seems totally committed to being mistreated by her girlfriend.
"I am a stranger in this country. How can I see what they do on private property?"
Otto von Wernherr
Both Anne Carlisle and Paula E. Sheppard are highly effective in their respective roles. We may not know these two characters but they feel genuine. The same is true for much of the cast. Otto Von Wernherr would never win an award for acting, but he is believable as the befuddled West German scientist trying to understand what these space aliens are doing in this circle of artists. At first he suspects the aliens are only interested in the heroin which shoots so freely among these characters, but soon it is revealed that these invaders are even more interested in the chemical reaction that orgasm creates within the brains of these humans. The interesting trick of the film is that while the film is never formerly concerned with character development, it fully utilizes the skills and charisma of the actors.
"For me it's easy. Hell to Hell. I'm not dancing in marijuana jungles. I live in concrete mazes. Stone and glass hard like my heart. Sharp and clean. No romantic illusions for changing the world. I don't lie to myself that love can cure because I know I'm alone. And you fought that every day. You lied. You lied. You go to hell. Suits you well."
The nihilism of the slam poet runs deep.
Sex has become an empty act. It no longer means anything to Margaret. So when the people who force their way with her sexually begin to die at the instant of orgasm she has little to no concern for the deaths. She is more curious than concerned. When an older artist brushes aside her need for conversation, she barely puts forward an argument as he rapes her. Thing take on a perverse edge when Adrian walks in do discover the nude male body. She slips into a sort of trance and begins a grim sort of rap to the beat of her fist on her thigh. When she reveals her deepest sexual fantasy is to have sex with a dead man, Margaret is repulsed. However it takes a good deal of necrophiliatic attempt before she tries to stop Adrian.
All the more upsetting when we realize that Margaret mistakes the aliens murdering her sexual partners to be a sign of power. For the first time in her life she thinks she is found her awakening. Her sex is no longer something to be traded or abused. Alien intervention has allowed her sex to become a threat. A threat she is more than happy to put to work.
"How many of you want to see me fuck Margaret and not die?"
Paula E. Sheppard & Anne Carlisle push past the R-rating of the day…
The characters of Liquid Sky are sick, twisted and sad. And yet we feel compelled to watch. This is not the sort of interest one experiences while watching a John Waters movie. Despite a few goofs and a low-budget, Liquid Sky is an interesting film. Once the movie begins, the viewer is going to be in for the long haul. The alien aspect of the film is largely secondary. We are concerned with the people. Margaret's misguided interpretation of the strange events that have started to happen all around her lead her down a very dark alley of self-examination.
And it doesn't take deep thinking to discover that Slava Tsukerman's film serves most effectively as horrific predictor of the AIDS epidemic.
"I was taught that to be an actress one should be fashionable. And to be fashionable is to be androgynous. And I am androgynous not less than David Bowie himself. And they call me beautiful. And I kill with my cult. Isn't it fashionable?"
Liquid Sky is not a movie for the squeamish, but neither is it actually an example of "shock cinema." Much of what we think we see is never really shown. And what is shown is potent. This is a horror film, but it is less a horror film about alien invasion than it is a horror film about human nature. Before everything goes inside out and upside down, Margaret is offered the chance to be interviewed for a cool underground fashion magazine. The reporter who would appear to be totally linked in with the whole gang takes a cruel turn when she interviews the would-be model. The aggressive reporter informs Margaret that her style of dress, make-up and living are tacky. Even though she is able to put the reporter in her place, her privilege is not granted or acknowledged. Margaret dares to be different, but ultimately she only finds power in what she thinks is her ability to kill.
"You wanted to know whom and what I am? I'm a killer."
Liquid Sky finds a surprising, clever and fitting conclusion. But the film's resolution is not so easy that it makes the viewer comfortable. As low-fi as it sometimes is, Liquid Sky disturbs. It also entertains, informs and inspires. Going on 35 years, it continues to enlarge its following. Over the last couple of years there have been screenings held at BAM, MOMA and other venues. Slava Tsukerman and Anne Carlisle have always made themselves available to discuss the film, their work and their hope to find funding to restore and preserve Liquid Sky's original negative print.
It is decaying. Literally.
"This subculture is not like 'The Mods' or 'The Rockers.' The punks don't need help from the outside to kill themselves…"
The VHS tape still fetches a good price on the market. Several DVD's are floating around, but the quality is not good. Unlike most film art, Liquid Sky has actually managed to become more controversial with time. It also has the rare distinction of having aged like fine wine. This movie is more interesting every time I see it.
Despite the film's strong following and the fact that it continues to inspire new generations of audience, there have been no takers to restore, preserve and redistribute. When the 1970's slasher film, Alice Sweet Alice, began receiving some delayed glory there was hope that it might help Liquid Sky find a new life. After all Alice herself is one of the key stars of this movie and Paula E. Sheppard has a cult following of her own.
A strange little girl. Before she slammed with her rhythm box she was "Alice." …And she was scarier than the mask.
Alice Sweet Alice
Alfred Sole, 1978
Cinematography | Chuck Hall
However she has always run from attention and rumor is that she found the experience of Liquid Sky negative. And sadly, Alfred Sole's under rated horror film is still more famous for featuring a young Brooke Shields than it is for being an interesting and unusual genre film.
Liquid Sky continues to flow…
"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong. To crash the critics saying, "is it right or is it wrong?"
If only fame had an IV, baby could I bear
Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here…"
Applause, 2013
Even still, there is always hope. Tsukerman and Carlisle have even scripted a sequel that is ready to roll. No matter what the future holds for Liquid Sky, it is a movie that deserves attention. Seek it out if you dare.
"Killing all the teachers…"
Rebellion, Fashion, A Warning, Electroclash and a bit of history all in one VHS tape…
from 2015 Slant Magazine piece by MARC SPITZ
"A glowing spaceship appears over the New York City skyline as dissonant New Wave music fills the multiple ears with their dangling rings. Junkies, models, poseurs and performance artists feed off each other in a battle to be the most fierce, all the while unaware that tiny aliens are harnessing their ecstasy. Most visitors to New York go to Serendipity for a frozen hot chocolate — these buggers are literally fueling their space ship with the power of the human orgasm, which turns the screen electric blue and red and green and purple.
"Liquid Sky" is set in New York City in the few years between disco and AIDS when young denizens indulged in exhibitionistic sex and hard drugs and took their fashion cues from the gleefully androgynous English New Romantic movement (big hair, frills, ruffles, theatrical make up). They danced like rusty robots in neon lit nightclubs. Within this odd demimonde Margaret (Anne Carlisle) lives and works as a successful model. She has the perfect life, with one exception: she kills everyone she has sex with, whether that sex is loving, non-consensual or even with her male doppelganger "Jimmy" (also played by Anne Carlisle, then a face at the Mudd Club, a key hangout of the period). Margaret is high maintenance ("You know this bitch takes two hours to go get ready to go anywhere," says girlfriend Adrian, who nearly steals the film with her performance of "Me and My Rhythm Box").
Shot in Ed Koch's crumbling New York on a tiny budget, "Liquid Sky"'s now highly-influential look, which has informed the costumes of everyone from Karen O to Lady Gaga and Sia, came largely from Carlisle's closet or thrift shop shopping bags. Carlisle, director Slava Tsukerman and co-producer Nina Kerova created a new kind of glamor queen who, Bowie-like, quite easily stokes the desire of the men and women — before leaving a crystal spike in the back of their brain. "I kill people that fuck me," the character confesses. Is it worth it? Almost. Is it almost ghoulishly predictive? Absolutely. This was 1982.
"They already had AIDS, but it wasn't that publicized," says Tsukerman, who swears the film was conceived as science fiction. Tsukerman, who traveled from Moscow to Hollywood and then found himself in Carlisle's fast-fashion world, where it seemed that everyone was a dancer, painter, band member, filmmaker or actor, adds, "The information about AIDS came after Liquid Sky."
Carlisle was equally aghast when her real life friends began dying of this new sexually transmitted disease. "It was so amazing, because the film is really about dying from sex and then everyone started dropping. It was really, really eerie. That happens sometimes in creative life. You do something and it's an accident that it actually comes true. It's mystical."
The two were already well established in the world of downtown film before "Liquid Sky" was co-conceived. Tsukerman had a film called "Sweeet Sixteen" which was nearly financed. "It was about a girl who was killed in a car accident in 1935 and her father, a crazy scientist, saves her head and makes a mechanical body," he says. Andy Warhol was supposedly committed make an appearance. Carlisle had a film called "The Fish" which she was showing around the clubs. When the pair met, it was clear that Tsukerman found his muse — but he had reservations, once "Liquid Sky" began pre-production, that Carlisle, primarily a painter, model and self described "nihilist" who attended the School of Visual Arts, could handle the role of both Margaret and Jimmy, even though, as she recalls, "I had a boy's haircut and a mini skirt. No one else was doing that." Carlisle convinced him one day. "We were scouting locations and I dressed as a man and I picked up a girl in front of him and that was my audition," she says. "She thought I was a boy. I admitted I was a girl and she said she was still into it."
"Liquid Sky" has a pre-apocalyptic feel of the Cold War sci-fi with the slickness of much more expensive films like its contemporary "Blade Runner," but the budget (about a half-million) nearly sparked a mutiny. "The crew was paid very little and they did revolt at one point over the food," Carlisle says. "They were worked day and night. We worked terrible hours. That the film got made at all was a miracle. It was really — at one point, I was arguing with them, we're making art here and you're worried about food. And he said you're making art here. We want pizza!"
1980's Culture
1980's Film
80s New York
AIDS Analogy
AIDS Epidemic
AIDS Metaphor
AIDS Panic
Alfred Sole
Art Horor
Arthur Elgort
Avant-Garde Cinema
Bizarre Film
Bob Brady
Brenda I. Hutchinson
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brussels International Film Festival
Chuck Hall
Ciao Manhattan
Clubbing 1981
Concert Performance
Counter-Culture
Crumbling City
Cultural Exiles
Cultural Rebellion
Dark Vision
Deutsches Album
Digital Sampling Keyboard
Dual Role
Early 1980's Synth
Ed Koch's NYC
Edo Bertoglio
Electroclash
Electroclash Pioneer
Electroclash Subculture Influence
End of the Run
Endorphines
Fairlight CMI
Fairlight Computer System
First Digital Synthesizer
GLBTI
Hegelian dialectic
Influential Film
Jury Prize Winner
Lost Cult Classic
Lost Self
Low Budget Gem
Marina Levikova
Me and My Rhythm Box
Montréal World Film Festival
Mudd Club
New Wave Clubbing
Nina V. Kerova
NYC 1980's Art Scene
NYC Cultural History
NYC Underground Club Life
Paula Sheppard
Performance Artist
Perverse
Plague Prediction
Post-Punk/New Wave
Revolutionary Musical Score
Russian Film
Self-Destructive
Sex-Kino
Sexual Freedom
Sociopolitical
Space Aliens
Stanley Knapp
Stephen Paine
Sydney Film Festival
Synth Score
The 4H Disease
The Cult of Liquid Sky
The Twin Towers
Ultra New Wave
Underground Sci-Fi
USA New Wave
VHS Legacy
Yuri Neyman
December 30th by Matty Stanfield in	1980's Cinema 1980's Horror 1980's NYC AIDS Cinematic Allegory Cinematic Arts Cinematic Gems Cinematic History Cinematic Impact Cinematic Intent Cinematic Metaphor Cinematic Symbolism Cult Classic Cult Film Film Acting Film Art Film Criticism Film Evaluation Film of Note Film Preservation Film Re Evaluation Film Restoration Film Theory Liquid Sky New Wave Nihilism NYC Underground Pop Art Pop Culture Post-PUNK Slava Tsukerman
Letters Crossed in the Mail Or Toxic Friendship in The Valley of the Dolls
"This blog wishes to state that any similarity between any persons, living or dead, and the shared correspondence you are about to see is purely coincidental and not intended."
Inscribed on back:
"Friend for life!
Jenny, Annie and Neely
FOUND CORRESPONDENCE DATED: November 4, 1978
Miss. Anne Welles
Former Super Model
Gillian Girl Cosmetics
NY, NY 10003
Hey Annie,
How's it going, Toots?
Lyon told me about your little accident on the flight back from Switzerland. I'm so sorry, but why did you get those cockamamie implants? Come on, Kid! Your tiny knockers were fine! Anyway, I hope they patched up the leaks! I wanted to drop you a line to lend you support. Boobies. Boobies. Boobies. Annie, who needs 'em? With your classy looks and taste, who gives a damn if your flat as a board? You know somethin', Annie? I'm jealous! No, I am! I plan on sharing all of this with Merv next week! I'm booked on his show and I owe you a solid!
Lyon tells me that you're going to give up the Gillian Girl gig to serve on the board of directors. I think that's great! I really do! I also think it's great that you've gone with the wrinkles over the curves! Who needs modeling jobs when you can sit on your skinny tail and get the money by whispering out your classy opinions!
Oh, Lyon just walked in! Thought he was in the shower, but I guess he was just lying in my bed! Oh, you know Lyon! It's been a while since we talked. You know you are my true friend. You really are.
Gotta run, Kid-o! Fox wants me for some glossies! You bet, Neely's back! New movie and a record coming out next week! RCA finally managed to pull me back into the studio to make an album. Annie, it's a disco record. It's really groovy, Annie! The kids know the moves and I got the voice! Don't bite any wooden nickels!
ps If you see that old hag, Helen Lawson, give her my love! I'm really enjoyed her performance as the Granny with a gun! I got it at one of those 42nd Street holes.
Nice kid turned lush!
Neely O'Hara took the green dolls…
FOUND CORRESPONDENCE DATED: November 17, 1978
Neely O'Hara
ASS William Morris Adjacent, Inc.
666 East of Main Street, #Z
Dearest Neely,
Just ripped through your note! It was lovely to hear from you! I'm not sure who told you I had undergone a breast enhancement procedure, but they are mistaken. I wonder if it has to do with my assisting Miss. Lawson when she had to have an emergency procedure. I had to give the poor dear a lift. Of course that was a dental issue.
Things could not be better! I just got back from an event at The Guggenheim. It was lovely. They have just debuted a new exhibit of Diane Arbus' work. It is stunning! I saw an amazing portrait of an elderly woman lying on a stoop. I thought of you, Neely. I think of you often.
Hollywood Actress Barbara Parkins. (Photo by Photoshot/Getty Images)
I heard about your accident backstage at Merv's studio. I am so sorry. I hope the floral arrangement arrived in time. I called Merv and he assured me that you would be fine. Neely, you really must take care when walking with a liquor bottle in your hand. I hope it was an unopened gift for Merv and that your are not drinking again. I eagerly await the release of your album! Isn't disco simply marvelous! I'm afraid I've become a bit of a regular at this sweet little club here in the city. It's called Studio 54! Have you heard of it?
Lyon? I'm not sure to whom you referred. Surely you do not mean Lyon Burke. Neely, Lyon passed away some time ago. It is essential that you stop blocking that horrid accident with Ted Casablanca. It wasn't your fault, darling. And that was proven in court! How could you have known that Lyon was seeing Mr. Casablanca behind your back? I don't care what Rona Barrett says! Speaking of scandals, have you heard from Jennifer? I'm worried for the dear. I've not heard from her in some time. Hope you are on the mend.
ps I think it best that you stop calling Liza. It's not your fault. Liza is just trying to pursue a healthier path. XOXO, Annie
Sex symbol turned on too often!
Jennifer North took the blue dolls, but here she is purple.
FOUND CORRESPONDENCE DATED: December 11, 1978
Fancy Pants CEO
Cha-Cha Annie! Thanks for the pretty flowers. I decided they look best on the floor. If I tilt my head a certain way they look like wilted adoration. It's been a difficult couple of weeks. The doc says I will be better than ever as soon as the stitches heal! I guess my new hip is made of the same cheap plastic that Jennifer wore as bracelets! Go figure!
Jennifer. Last time I saw her she wanted to know where she could get a hydroclonic. A hydroclonic. I was able to help her when she wanted an abortion, but I don't even know what that is! She told me it's when they shove a hose up your ass and empty out your colon. Jeez! And to think that she was the one who wanted a husband and kiddies. Now she doesn't even want to take a shit. Sorry, Annie. I know how you feel about cuss words. It's a good thing you didn't pursue work as an actress. You'd never have cut it.
It's tough, Annie. I work myself so far to the bone they have to replace my hip with plastic! My sponsor therapist tells me I crave mass attention. I don't. I just want applause. Real applause! Not canned like that crap that Polar used on his sad variety show. Man! And I try, Annie. I really try.
Inscription on back of photo:
"To Annie! I didn't have dough handed to me because of my good cheekbones, I had to work for it!"
Neely, '67
I'm tired of the green dolls. I wanna try some of those red ones! I wake up, and take two green dollies ones so I can get out there! I take some off-color babies to keep up my glow, but then I have to take two yellow dolls just so I can sleep. It's not easy having to sparkle.
Sparkle, Neely! Sparkle! Boobies all of 'em!
Lyon and Ted? Oh, yeah. I forgot. Who needs, em'? Right Annie? And those goes double for that bitch, Helen Lawson!
Right! Besides I got me a man! A real man! His name is Roddy! That's right, babe. Roddy McDowall! And I know what you and everyone is saying! Well, not you! Not my sweet and sensible Annie! But, I swear he's not a BRIT! And I'm just the dame to prove it! Besides he's really connected and made a whole lotta money playing a monkey! Anyways, he got me a gig on a big deal TV show. It's a big show, Annie. I get to be a judge with a mallet sort of thing! And I will be judging talent! I'm the ticket to judge talent! Watch out for falling bricks,
Helen Lawson doesn't need dolls. She's not like these other broads. She has a hard core. She rolls with the punches. And, believe her, in this business they come left, right below the belt. Off stage they hate her. But, on stage, they're madly in love with her. That's why she plants her own damned tree! And, baby, she makes it grow!
FOUND CORRESPONDENCE DATED: February 10, 1979
Danvers State Mental Hospital
Ward C
Dearest Neely, I apologize for not being there when you wake from the sedatives. I tried to stay, but Yves Saint Laurent was in a real bind and I had to fly out to Paris. Luckily he was able to secure a private jet to pick me up. I worry that I not only let you down, but poor sweet Willy as well! I was to have met him back in Lawrenceville, but I had to cancel. As you know, potential fashion issues must take precedent. Poor Willy. Oh Neely, it all seems to long ago. Who knew when I headed to New York that I'd be leaving his life forever. As Yves' jet was landing I thought about the brutal climb to reach the peak of my success and glory. It's at moments like that I am relived that Momma and Aunt Amy invested me with solid New England heart! No time for tears!
Now about your current situation. I was worried when you mentioned Roddy, Miss Taylor and The Gong Show. So I decided to get myself to your side right away! After a brief visit to Rome and a quick meeting in Greece, I caught the first flight out to California! I was so worried! My innocent and awkward, Neely! I should chastise you for not giving me the correct address. I hope you were not embarrassed! I must confess, Skid Row doesn't smell very nice, but it is quite colorful. It was brimming over with life! I just wish life had a better scent. After I paid Paolo, he took me to your dwelling.
Yes, America's Gillian Girl has an excellent memory and she loves sherry.
Oh, Neely. After all these years you should known better than to mix those dolls with liquor! I was able to pull some strings and secure a spot for you at The Betty Ford Clinic, but I decided you would not want that sort of publicity. So I had my people locate the most discreet rehabilitation center in the country! Only the best for my Neely!
Now I can imagine what you're thinking, but The Danvers Lunatic Asylum is actually a deeply respected hospital. I was particularly drawn to Ward C in which you will be free to roam about. And after my inspection, I realized the entire ward smelled a bit like your lovely room at that Union Rescue building. I felt that familiar smell of yours would make you feel comfortable.
Neely, you are such a clever one! I know that you will be fresh and ready to get back to work in no time! I put some feelers out and was able to secure a role for you in the US touring company of "Fidler on the Roof!" No need to thank me! Yes, you have the role of understudy! The tour doesn't start for another couple of months so there is plenty of time for you to rest! I've left bus fare along with the phone number for Zero Mostel's Press Agent with your assigned custodian. His office is in the basement. Take care traversing those stairs!
Best Wishes, Anne Welles
Inscription on back of photograph:
"I Can't stop thinking about that audience tonight!"
FOUND CORRESPONDENCE DATED: September 2, 1979
Hi-ho, Annie! Sorry I didn't write sooner but I decided best to wait until I had a writing tool other than my own shit! Can't thank you enough for your help! With friends like you who needs MGM!?!? No worries. I'm tough. I looked at my stay in that loony bin as a vehicle for artistic experience. Actually, I was surprised at how quickly I was able to learn so many new tricks! Turns out it really is in the breathing! You know, this really solved a couple of life's challenges th Sorry if this makes you sad, but I had a slight stroke of luck! One of Jennifer's nudie movies was screening in the Lobotomy Ward. That's Ward C, Annie!
Anyway something rattled my cage and I remembered Jen's phone number. After I was able to knock a couple of heads and get to a phone — I called! That shrew Miriam Polar answered. It took some fancy talking but she called Jen for me. Jen sent some skinny French guy to get me out. Yeah, I'm out. I'm free. And, yes, I've got a whole new set of teeth!
Road tour understudy? For fucking Topol in the role of "Tevye"? Seriously, Anne? I don't think so! I've got other plans! Oh, yes! I'm about to turn the tables on the whole frickin' industry! I'm ready. I'm going to do it all by myself! That's right! I'm pulling it together and doing my own one woman show! And, baby, I'm gonna blow all of you dopes to hell! It's going to be big, Annie. And I'm taking no prisoners! I'm putting it all in the show! I'm not leaving anything out!
Slap a pony!
ps They love me. They can't help it. I'm Neely! Neely! Neely O'Hara!
"The motion picture that shows what America's all time #1 best seller first put into words!"
Mark Robson, 1967
ALERT! PRESS RELEASE! BREAKING NEWS!
Neely O'Hara Forcibly Removed From Theatre Lobby After Attacking Two B'Way Superstars!
Eye On The Stars · 1/25/1980 12:13AM
We wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't seen it for ourselves! Imagine our surprise when Celebrity Icon and Beloved Dame of American Theatre, Helen Lawson, was attacked by washed-up and bloated singer/actress, Neely O'Hara.
Ms. O'Hara, wearing what appeared to be a filthy "Property of Danvers State Mental Hospital" sheet, entered The Winter Garden Theatre, head-butted super cute Broadway starlet, Andrea McArdle. It was only after kicking poor Miss. McArdle's unconscious body that Ms. O'Hara was able to make her way to the great Helen Lawson.
Ms. Lawson seemed to be as afraid as confused as she scrambled to protect her hair. Witnesses confirm our own eyes and ears! Ms. Lawson was screaming, "Not my wig! Not my wig!" the instant she noticed O'Hara bludgeoning her way across the lobby!
Neely O'Hara, rumored to have been committed to an infamous mental hospital, proceeded to scream out unintelligible words at the terrified superstar. Neely O'Hara attempted to club Ms. Lawson with a platform boot, but security pulled the unhinged former hitmaker to the ground.
Neely O'Hara was restrained and placed in a police van. We distinctly heard her yelling something about homosexuality, fashion, dolls, sparkling and Mount Everest as the police vehicle sped away from the theater.
We can confirm that Annie's young starlet is doing well and is expected to be released from Mount Sinai early tomorrow. Helen Lawson suffered only minor scratches. We have been asked to state that Ms. Lawson does not wear a wig.
We reached out to Neely O'Hara's glamorous longtime pal, Anne Welles for comment:
"Ms. Welles can you comment on Neely O'Hara's recent deviant behavior at The Winter Garden Theatre?"
"Neely who?"
End. Ready for Publication.
Restored and a proud member of The Criterion Collection…
Illustration | Phil Noto
Matty Stanfield, 10.11.2016
Barbara Perkins
Comic Fiction
Friendship in the Valley of the Dolls
Miriam Polar
Patty Duke
Phil Noto
Spousal Needs
Ted Casablanca
William Travilla
Zero Mostel
October 11th by Matty Stanfield in	Anne Welles Cinematic Arts Cinematic Error Cinematic Gems Cinematic History Cinematic Impact Cinematic Imprint Cinephile Cult Classic Cult Film Cultural Memory Dysfunction Eccentric Cinema Entertainment Film Film Art Film History Film of Note Film Preservation Film Promotion Film Re-Distribution Film Restoration Film Theory Jacqueline Susann Jennifer North Mark Robson Matty Stanfield Neely O'Hara Valley of the Dolls
Problematic Empowerment or Belladonna of Sadness
When 19th Century writer, Jules Michelet, wrote La Sorcière (Satanism and Witchcraft) his goal was not limited to providing a history of Medieval European Witchcraft. In truth he was seeking to do something far more interesting — his intention was to reveal that history as a cultural rebellion against the oppressions of the Roman Catholic Church and Feudalism. Michelet was sympathetic to the plight of peasant women of this era. What culture and history named as Satanic or Witchcraft, he attempted to redefine from the other side of a largely unrecognized side of this phenomenon: Paganism.
An impoverished woman doesn't quite fit into her community is to be judged as an Evil Witch.
Illustration by Martin van Maele
from Jules Michelet La Sorcière, 1911 Edition.
The idea, as presented by Michelet, was to look underneath such dark practices as Devil Worship and discover its true origins. In fact, he viewed this with an eye to where non-prescriptive spiritual beliefs might lead to something of beauty and goodness. Was the cultural magnifying glass obstructing the goodness to propagate the fear of the people? His sympathies were given to the oppressed and victimized. Paganism was not necessarily Evil from Michelet's viewpoint. His book would assist in laying out a model for modern Pagan Wiccan Ideologies.
Were these men afraid of Witchcraft or simply afraid of a women refusing patriarchal control?
"The Witch, No. 3"
Joseph E. Baker, c. 1890
Michelet reconstructs and reimagines a situation in which a coven of desperate women push their unique forms of social protest into darkness by the use of decadent rituals performed under the power of the moon. Black Sabbaths performed by witches. It was not the strength found in nature that was the problem. The problem was when these spiritual and empowering rituals sought to do harm. He then devotes the remainder of the book to reconstructions / imaginings taken from the horrific European witch trials. Michelet's writings were debunked as inaccurate and problematic long ago, but he is responsible for turning a sympathetic light toward oppressed women and scorn on irrational societal fears. If nothing else, La Sorcière speaks to a very different kind of revolutionary danger that goes far beyond the simple political. If a society chooses to push large groups into oppression and misery, there is simply no telling what those groups might form to rebel.
Entering the 1970's society felt that parents had control of their children. Cue a masterful film about a pretty little girl possessed by The Devil.
William Friedkin, 1973
Cinematography | Owen Roizman
As the world crashed out of the 1960's and slammed into the resulting gains and damages of the 1970's, Japan's Mushi Production was looking to take on a bigger slice of the Animated Movie Pie. They instructed their animation team to create three adult-oriented projects referred to as The Animerama Trilogy. Mushi Productions and legendary animator, Osamu Tezuka, were looking to keep up with an ever evolving and reactionary era. The Animerama Trilogy would be Anime / Manga with a difference. These three films were to be full-on erotica and they would also adhere to psychedelic animation.
"All those lonely people…" Taking animation into the psychedlic.
George Dunning, 1968
Art Direction | Heinz Edelmann
Perhaps it was worries about trying to push ahead of the coolness / originality created within the animated Beatles movie, Yellow Submarine, combined with rumors of hardcore content about to explode within mainstream cinematic entertainment. This was the era of Last Tango in Paris, The Devils, A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist. It was at this time that two truly pornographic films enjoyed mainstream success. Deep Throat and Beyond The Green Door were not limited to creepy porn cinemas. Whatever propelled Mushi Productions to push the cinematic envelope, this was The Sexual Revolution and Liberation moving in full-tilt-boogie mode. Mushi Productions was ready to make X-Rated pornographic animated films. The sexuality was to be both erotic and graphic, but equal attention needed to be applied in the areas of plot and artistic quality.
The original movie poster
Belladonna of Sadness / Tragedy of Belladonna
Eiichi Yamamoto, 1973
Belladonna of Sadness was actually the second of the trilogy. Tezuka assigned Eiichi Yamamoto to serve as Belladonna's director and visionary leader. He quickly convinced painter, Kuni Fukai, to helm the film's art direction duties. Artistic freedom and quality were of upmost importance. Astro Boy was the money maker for Mushi Productions. This trilogy was to be creative. Concerns regarding commercial success were to be pushed off the table.
The oppressed victim transforms into a magically powerful Witch…
Cinematography | Shigeru Yamasaki
Yamamoto understood the importance of story and the importance of artistic quality. Fukai was not particularly interested in Anime or Manga, but he did want the freedom to pursue his artistic vision. He was also drawn to the idea that Tezuka was not particularly interested in movement. His goal was to focus on the detail of illustration. In other words, traditional ideas of animation were out the window. Fukai found the film's development and production to be an enjoyable artistic experience. Based upon interviews, it is clear that Fukai captured the director's ideas onto scrolling murals. The film's cinematographer, Shigeru Yamasaki, then set the framing as his camera moved along the murals and other illustrations. Belladonna of Sadness took two years to create using less than ten additional animators. Masahiko Satoh was hired to provide the musical score. It is a jazzed-fused mash-up of experimental synthesizers with syrupy pop ballads. The musical score works incredibly well. Like the film itself, Satoh's score has a large number of fans as well.
Defying conventional ideas of Anime and animation…
By the time Belladonna of Sadness was ready for release, Mushi Productions was about to fall into bankruptcy. Their Japanese distributor, Nippon Herald Eiga, was at a loss when it came to marketing the movie. Even though the strange film was well received at the 1973 Berlin International Film Festival, it received a limited release in Japan without any success. Having now seen this infamous movie, it seems all the more odd that it came and went with little to no interest. It was never officially released outside of Japan. In the late 1970's it was discovered that Belladonna had gained a minor female following.
An attempt to re-cut the movie so that it might hold a more immediate appeal to female viewers only resulted in muting the film's power. Much of the hardcore sexuality and sexual violence was trimmed away. It is easy to understand why the director decided to remove some of these elements as they have and continue to cause problematic issues, but those original choices still make sense to the overall reach of the film. However Yamamoto had the idea of incorporating a scan of Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix to serve as a potent closing image.
A poisonous flower or a source of magical healing?
The additional mix of Delacroix's style makes sense given that the movie pulsates via a number of various stylistic influences. But the most logical piece of this idea is that the painting better conveys the film's closing lines. Belladonna of Sadness has always enjoyed a strong reputation among fans of the Anime / Manga genres. Various and inferior versions of the movie floated around for years. The folks at Cinelicious Pics worked hard to secure the rights to restore and distribute an uncensored version of the movie to the world. All of the eroticism, depravity and sexual brutality has been returned. But the 1979 inclusion of Delacroix's painting remains. Belladonna of Sadness is now available in 4K remaster.
How to describe this film without giving too much away? I'm not confident I can do that so I will keep my summary simplistic and utilize shots from the film to indicate the beauty, complexity and ultra-weird world it portrays. The over-all look of the film is tied to an idea of glam beauty that you might expect to see in illustrated adverts of the early to mid-1970's. The film's protagonist, Jeanne, is rendered as a slender and sublimely perfect nymphette. Her appearance is the one consistent element of the movie's imagery. Jeanne's beauty does not match the world in which she has been born. She is simply too elegantly beautiful to belong here.
The identity finds no solace or safety in marriage…
She is a peasant girl who has just married a humble but handsome man. Only minutes into her marriage, Jeanne is raped by the land's Feudal Lord — and his entire court including Church leadership. This might sound silly, but that animated / painted sequences of rape and sexual torture are truly horrific. Kuni Fukai and his team found ways to render this human cruelty that go well beyond the boundaries of living actors. The sequence is traumatic and may prove to be more than some are willing to watch. When the film was screened in San Francisco more than a few people opted to leave the cinema. If you thought the killing of Bambi's mom was harsh, that classically upsetting animated moment is rendered sweet in comparison.
Believe it or not, this film's animated depiction of rape is disorienting, visceral and horrifically disturbing.
The ability of this film to capture both the act of rape and the consequence of the attack is nothing short of brilliant. As horrible as these sequences are — they are essential. The rape of Jeanne is not presented as erotic, but it does force forward an uncomfortable issue. While Yamamoto is clearly not looking to excite the audience, that doesn't mean that this depiction of rape is above reproach. An argument could be made that his film goes too far. Somewhere in the synapse of the depicted horror there registers a worrying sense of the sadistic.
Is the explicit manner in which these brutalities are depicted meaningful or exploitive? While I think a case could be made, ultimately I was moved by the way the film managed to present the sheer trauma and damage of rape. Even still it must be noted that these sequences are so repulsive and shocking — they push it all so far that the viewer's mind and body are both required to react.
It is a manipulation. It is a tough watch. Maybe too tough to be considered as an "entertaining" experience — and, no matter, this movie's intentions are to entertain.
Draw your own conclusion.
Belladonna of Sadness is obviously surrealistic, but it is persistently grounded in realistic logic. Jeanne's life and marriage are ruined. As she attempts the impossibility of healing and restoring her identity she falls into a spiraling depression. Pushed past the edge of sanity, Jeanne appears to retreat into an attempt at calming through sexual self release. Or at least this is how I interpret it. Instead of finding peace, she discovers The Devil. Playful and ever-ready to flirt, The Devil never attempts to hide his identity. He repeatedly points out that Jeanne has summoned him.
Evil has not come to Jeanne without invitation.
Jeanne makes a pact and gives her body and soul for as she phrases it, "something bad." The something bad is actually empowerment and full claim of her sexual liberation.
Surrendering to Satan…
Our protagonist is angry when she awakens from her surrealistic fuck-fest with Satan. She has anticipated that she would wake in Hell. She thought her hair would have turned into snakes. She expected to be a scary old hag. Instead she wakes refreshed, clean, energetic, healed and surrounded by flowers that seem to radiate energy.
"You had already died, anyway."
"I want people to turn away in horror when I pass by in the street. I don't want to forget anger and hatred!" Jeanne seethes to The Devil.
"You have become beautiful, Jeanne. Like a young girl in love. Radiant. You are even more beautiful than God," The Devil replies.
The One who owns her soul explains that a woman can be angry, scary and raging with hatred and remain beautiful. Why? Because she does not fully understand the power of her own self and beauty. The Devil teaches her that she can channel her beauty, charm, intellect and intelligence to do good or utilize those same powers to cause righteous evil. Nature will bend to Jeanne's will. Why? Because she is woman.
Meet Jeanne, The Witch.
Cinematography | Shigeru Yamazaki
Yamamoto's vision of The Devil is a penis of various sizes and compulsions. Evil is represented by the penis. It is comical, but it is also oddly effective in depicting Jeanne's initiation into the sensual. The vagina is used to symbolize a wide range of ideas and aspects of life, but the key to Belladonna of Sadness' use of yonic symbology are related to joy, pleasure and life.
"Are you The Devil?"
"Yes," replies the cock along with an opportunity for empowerment…
Welcome to Eiichi Yamamoto's take on Feminist Theory. As Jeanne allows herself to shed inhibitions — she evolves into a powerful sexual predator. She seduces and gains strength as the men begin to lose theirs. Jeanne has long left her former life, she is now surrounded by beauty. She finds creative and magical ways to return to her fellow peasants.
Jeanne magically creates food and wine. She brings sexual education to her fellow peasants. She turns the poisonous Belladonna flower into medicine that stops pain — most importantly notes is that her magic flower takes away the pain of childbirth for the women of her village. And she pulls the peasants back to her Sexual LSD'd-like trip'd out home for orgy sabbaths. All of which are depicted in stunning ways and in a multiple manner of styles. Some of the film's stylings are truly beautiful, others are crude, some are silly, some profane and all are aiming to shock.
Eventually Jeanne must decide how she really wants to use her new found power.
Ultimately there is a reason Yamamoto named the protagonist "Jeanne."
Jeanne d'Arc, anyone? Did I mention the story takes place in France?
Do ya wanna hold me?
Regarding the film's X-Rated ideologies — Belladonna of Sadness aims to sexually excite. This is eroticism. To be more specific, this is experimental eroticism.
Why is it experimental? For more reasons than I care to list, but this is an animated film. Depictions of the human body morph from realistic renderings to the profanely abstract. This is even more true when applied to genitalia.
Is Belladonna of Sadness actually erotic? I guess that depends on what winds your clock. Personally, I do not find illustrations all that sexy. But that is just me.
Eroticism morphs…
I should also point out that I've no interest in animated film, Anime or Manga. The fact that I wanted to write about Belladonna of Sadness indicates a great deal regarding how I feel about it. I loved the experience of this movie.
I admire the artistic audacity, experimentation and the epic go-for-broke approach. And I take great pleasure in seeing something totally new and unique. I have never seen a movie like this one. It is unique. It is also a problematic film and it doesn't always work. But when Belladonna of Sadness does work — it compulsively pulls us into its own astounding world.
Erotica Abstracta / Fascinating to watch
Belladonna of Sadness has been gyrating for over 43 years. It isn't going anywhere. For more info: http://www.cineliciouspics.com/belladonna-of-sadness/
Animated Pornography
Art or Porn?
Cinelicious Pics
Cinematic Intention
Cultural Misogyny
Deal With The Devil
Eroicism
Eugene Delacroix
European Witch Trials
Female Ideneity
Female Perspective
Female Sexuality
Gender Iinequality
George Dunning
Graphic Sexuality
Heinz Edelmann
Kuni Fukai
Liberty Leading the People
Limitations of Cisgender
Magical Powers
Martin van Maele
Masahiko Satoh
Medieval European Witchcraft
Mushi Production
Obscure Film
Pact with Satan
Pagan Wiccan Ideology
Patriarchal View
Phallic-Headed Spirit
Poison Beauty
Power of Film
Profane
Psychedelic Animation
Ritualistic Sex
Satanic Pact
Satanic Ritual
Societal Fears
Societal Misogyny
Societal Rebellion
Talking Penis
Tarot illustrations
Vaginal Art
Yonic Symbolism
Yoshiyuki Fukuda
August 25th by Matty Stanfield in	1970's Cinema Adaptation Animation Anime anti-male ideology Art Design Art Direction Art House Film Artistic Intention Belladonna of Sadness Cinematic Arts Cinematic Debate Cinematic Eroticism Cinematic Ethics Cinematic Motivation Cinematic Provocation Cinematic Symbolism Cinematography Controversial Film Cult Classic Cult Film Drug Culture Eiichi Yamamoto Empowerment Erotica Eroticism Experimental Animation Experimental Cinema Experimental Film Exploitation Feminist Theory Film Film Art Film Criticism Film Evaluation Film of Note Film Perservation Film Re Evaluation Film Re-Distribution Film Resonation Film Restoration Film Theory Graphic Sexuality In Film Identity Independent Film Japanese Film Jules Michelet Kanashimi no Belladonna La Sorcière Lost Film Misandry Misogyny Nippon Herald Films Pop Art Pop Culture Pornaography Post-Feminist Provocation Provocative Film psychedelic imagery Psychedelica Psychotronic Rape Depiction Satanic Satanism and Witchcraft Sexual Revolution Shigeru Yamazaki Societal Commentary Sorceress Subversive Surrealism Survival Survivor Sushi Production The Devil Tragedy of Belladonna Underground Film Wicca Witch Witchcraft in Film
You Can Only Keep 10 or Limiting My Criterion Collection
It was an odd question.
"Let's say you must lose all material possessions except for ten of your Criterion Collection Blu-Rays. Which ten titles do you keep?"
I rolled my eyes and shrugged the question away. There is no way I could ever limit myself to only ten Criterions! But the silly question inspired me to really think about the movies I have via The Criterion Collection. Which are my absolute favorites? Which titles do I watch the most? Which do I value above others? Could I narrow it down to only ten movies? Would I have to organize them in some order of preference? No. I would not be able to rate one more valued than the other.
My friend did not frame her question with the context of a desert island. If she had I would have countered back with obvious challenges of having a monitor, BluRay Player and electricity to run both. No. The question was simply which ten I would keep above all others. Ideally I would smuggle a few more titles with me. Yes. I would most definitely find a way to sneak a few more under protection under my hoodie. No one would be the wiser. Most certainly not the friend who posed the question. After much contemplation, here are my most treasured members of my Criterion Collection…
Don't Look Now
Nicolas Roeg, 1974
Cover Design: Fred Davis
I think there tends to be one common thread in the choices I have made from my Criterion Collection: Identity. It seems to me that the idea of identity is at the core of all we pursue in life. One could easily argue that food gathering, sex and conflict are the shared drivers for the beings called human, but it is within the pursuit of these needs that much of our respective identities take form. It is both amazing and a little horrifying how identity is challenged and altered by drivers, circumstances and experiences. Films that delve into the psychology of identity vary in genre and philosophy, but often provide endless interpretation.
Surreal films like Buñuel's Belle de jour, Roeg's Don't Look Now, Polanski's Repulsion, Altman's 3 Women and Breillat's Fat Girl find new ways of exploring the inner workings of how our identity forms, survives and sometimes crumples. Allegorical, metaphorical and symbolism reign supreme in these films. Repeated viewings offer fresh perspectives and understanding. A documentary like Grey Gardens works brilliantly in the hands of the Maysles Brothers. The use of Direct Cinema offers insights into mother / daughter dynamics as well as a humanistic study of adapted survival. Altman's Nashville is satire, but as this experimental epic unwinds the ideas of damaged identities are pushed by societal and cultural pressures that have only become stronger in the 40+ years that he made his film. Don't Look Now is far more than a horror film. It does haunt and stirs dread, but it also captivates in its eloquence of exploring human nature under the sway of reawakening hope.
Lars von Trier, 2009
"But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn't know that they were dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there's anything worse than dealing with a staunch woman…"
Little Edie makes a stand.
Mayflies, Hovde, Meyer
America caught in a scary moment points us to an even more horrific future…
Robert Altman, 1975
Two other common elements are the uncomfortable mixture of humor and horror. Lars von Trier's controversial Antichrist offers up skin-crawling levels of disturbing images that are almost impossible to watch — yet the elements of dark humor and surrealism move our attentions away from the grotesque. If we look, listen and think — the strange film offers perspectives on a number of topics from cultural misogyny, the intimacy of marriage and the tragedy of grief. Nashville, 3 Women, Fat Girl and Grey Gardens allow us to chuckle as much as they make us squirm.
"1 woman became 2/2 women became 3/3 women became 1…"
No one's victim…
Fat Girl / À ma soeur!
Catherine Breillat, 2001
I am not assigning these titles in any particular order because I am unable to really rank one of these films over another. Each film is exceptional, but some do work better than others. Louis Malle's experimental and surreal Black Moon is of interest despite itself. This film is very much a reflection of European tension and confusion resulting from sociopolitical revolutions, challenges and fears of its time. Much of the political has been lost over time. What remains is a tipsy and uncomfortable take on Alice in Wonderland. The film may be flawed, but it is extraordinary.
Louis Malle, 1975
As for the other beloved titles that I would creatively find a way to retain…
It would be challenging to think of two films that are more hinged to the times in which both were made. And yet, both of these Cult Film remain powerful and equally unsettling. Repeated viewings are never dull. Revisiting these two movies is as much fun as it is disorienting.
"What are you waiting for, Lover?"
In the Realm of the Senses
The ideas of identity are taken to whole new levels with the three films listed above. Each of these movies are totally unique. And each of these iconic films offer three very different experiences. The only one I feel the need to defend is Nagisa Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses. Does he push the use of unstimulated sex and violence too far? Yes, but that is also his point. If you are over 18 years of age, this movie offers an astounding and masterful study of the horrors of sexual obsession and repression.
"Now is the time for a digression in which to describe our heroes' feelings…"
Jean-Luc Godard, 1964
It hurts my feelings to imagine my world without Dressed to Kill, Harold and Maude, Satyricon, 8½, Jules et Jim, Red Desert or Valerie and her Week of Wonders. But I can only get away with sneaking so much. Even if I were to slip into my Large sized hoodie — it would most likely be obvious if I had more than 5 titles hidden behind the zipper.
"But no sooner was she back on shore, when…"
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964
But who am I fooling? I would most definitely try to sneak Gates of Heaven into my ownership. Hell, I would also grab Branded to Kill and Eraserhead. I would then make a run for it. I'm sneaky like that.
"You've been badly trained."
Branded to Kill
Seijun Suzuki, 1967
Aaron Granat
À ma soeur!
Harold and Muade
July 21st by Matty Stanfield in	Cinematic Gems Criterion Criterion Collection Cult Film Film Film Art Film Preservation Film Restoration Film Theory Matty Stanfield
Is That London Burning? Or Exploring The British New Wave from The Other Side of the Underneath…
Uh, oh. Trouble is coming from all sides as Ken Russell takes British Film into the 1970's. Despite on-going demand, Time Warner still refuses to allow us to take a full-on second look back. Britain's most infamous film actually belongs to a United States based corporation. The Devils Ken Russell, 1971 Cinematography | David Watkin
When one thinks of 1960's Film Art, the mind does not immediately jump to thoughts of British cinema. Most of us think of France's La Nouvelle Vague, Germany's Neuer Deutsche Film, Italy's NeoRealism film movement, The Japanese New Wave or The Polish New Wave from which Britain did snatch Roman Polanski. Certainly there were groundbreaking British films that caught the spirit of London's Swinging 60's Era, but many of these films have aged rather poorly. Just think of Petulia, Morgan!, Darling, Billy Liar or Georgy Girl. If honest, what really still works about these films is related to a time capsule interest. Many of these British films are quite valid (think A Taste of Honey, This Sporting Life, Room At The Top, A Hard Day's Night, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, Performance ) but the majority have not held up as well as one might hope.
This is not true across the board. Stanley Kubrick's British work has only gotten better with time and Michelangelo Antonioni's visit into Swinging London culture of the time, Blow Up, remains a vital work. However, are these truly British films? It would seem that both of these filmmakers were in a sort of transitionary position. Antonioni was visiting England. Kubrick was still fairly new to British culture.
The great Julie Christie is The Ideal Woman of 1965's British satire of Swinging London, but the film barely registers beyond nostalgia now. Darling John Schlesinger, 1965 Cinematography | Kenneth Higgins
Most of the iconic British films of the 1960's are simply limited to nostalgia. Guy Hamilton, Andy Milligan, Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Lindsay Shonteff are exceptions but much of what they were trying to convey would soon better estimated by the likes of Alan Parker and most especially Mike Leigh. Ken Loach would not truly find his voice until he entered his 50's in the 1990's. There was also a good share of attention to The Angry Young Man of the day. Tony Richardson had moments of brilliance but looking back he seemed to have been challenged by what style of film best suited his voice. Richard Lester certainly left a mark, but here again we are slipping into time capsule pop culture moments.
The British New Wave is also largely obscured by the mega-epics of David Lean's heavily praised, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago are considered to be a cinematic masterpieces. I've never been particularly impressed. To be honest, I've never made it through Lawrence of Arabia without falling asleep. Carol Reed's adaptation of the stage musical, Oliver! was another huge British hit of the 1960's that pushed pass the more reflexive films of the day.
There were two particularly strong and solitary British Film Artists who were finding new methods of cinematic language. Nicolas Roeg would soon move from the cinematographer chair to that of director and change the face of film editing as it was known. Ken Russell's work for the BBC and his adaptation of Larry Kramer's adaptation of DH Lawrence's Women In Love all stand alone and unique in offering new ways of using film to express ideas and to tell stories. And he really stole the anticipated reigns of the film biography when The Music Lovers slammed onto movie screens across the world in 1970.
Ken Russell welcomes us to the 1970's via way of 16h Century France as "the wife" of a Priest makes her way past the destruction of the Roman-Catholic Church… Gemma Jones The Devils Ken Russell, 1971 Cinematography | David Watkin
As British Film headed into the 1970's some firm and potent voices formed. Certainly Stanley Kubrick's A Clock Work Orange is a British Film. All American cultural ideas have fallen off his cinematic map. John Schlesinger pretty much left England for America. Ken Russell defied all expectations with his searing and important 1971 film, The Devils. As it turns out Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg and Stanley Kubrick were not alone. The thing is some of the new British voices got somehow lost in the mix. Barney Platts-Mills' may have only made one film in the 1960's, but it is a powerful entry into British Film History. Three other filmmakers also created work not only ahead of the cultural curve — they challenged it and ran their work close to the edge of the rails.
As we stumble forward toward the third decade of the 21st Century, The British Film Institute has gone deep within the corners of their storage closets to re-release a couple of seldom seen motion pictures that capture 1960's London in whole new ways. Most of these titles were dusted off, restored, re-released within the UK and issued to DVD/Blu-Ray between 2009 and 2011.
The British Film Festival pulled several legendary but almost forgotten films and re-issued them to DVD/Blu-Ray in 2010 and 2011. These "lost" films of Jack Bond, Jane Arden, Joseph Despins and William Dumaresq teach us that Ken Russell and Stanley Kubrick were not alone in finding new ways to capture stories and ideas for the British Screen.
Two of these four filmmakers were actually Canadian born. Even still, these two ex-pats of Canada artists show no signs of unfamiliarity with the setting of their two crucial films that BFI re-issued several years back for the first time in over 40 years. The other two filmmakers are most certainly British and have cinematic voices which come close to that of Ken Russell and Nicolas Roeg. Like Russell / Roeg, these two British Film Artists were well-versed but often Anti-Intellectual in the way they approached their work. They were far more focused on the visual and the use of film editing. Rebels all, but each were reeling out their rebellion from different core identities. Unlike Ken Russell and Nicolas Roegs' work of the 1960's, all four of the other Film Artists will not appeal to a number of people, but it is hard to imagine anyone disputing their importance.
I'm currently exploring the work of a number of British filmmakers who are new to me. I plan on writing more on the art and collaborations of Jane Arden and Jack Bond. The work these two created almost defies terminology, but I'm going to give it my best shot!
But for this post, I want to touch on two films. The first of these two was born out of the mixed theatre and social service ideals of the great Joan Littlewood. "The Mother of Modern Theatre" devoted the second half of her life working with the young people of East London who were lost, without purpose or supervision. These young people were in constant threat of falling prey to all manner of trouble. Her idea was to create a space where these teenagers could be allowed to hang out and "act" out their issues, challenges and ideas. Firmly grounded in the arts but against what she viewed as Elitism of The National Theatre. Her Theatre Royal Stratford East was free of pretension and open to everyone. It was here that Barney Platts-Mills was inspired to scrap together a bit of money to make an amazing little film called Bronco Bullfrog.
Non-actors, Anne Gooding & Del Walker, "play" fictionalized versions of themselves and contemplate their futures.
Bronco Bullfrog
Barney Platts-Mills, 1969
Cinematography | Adam Barker-Mill
Bronco Bullfrog stars non-actors who had been working with each other under the loose guidance of Joan Littlewood. While the plot is deceptively simple, a great deal of information about the grimness of urban decay, lack of parenting and dystopian boredom come through loud and clear. Glam and style-free, this is a study of teenagers floating along without purpose, direction or hope. Interestingly, it is not all gloom and doom. The characters of Bronco Bullfrog start to find their way as the film heads to conclusion. This is a gem of a film that has never received the praise or attention it deserved. As good as this movie is, it can hardly stand-up when positioned next to Joseph Despins and William Dumaresqs' ultra-strange and unforgettable twisted little movie, Duffer.
A good 6 years before anyone had seen the dark surrealism and humor of David Lynch, this low-budget experimental film serves as welcome warning that the art of filmmaking is about to take an innovative, creative and altogether new turn. Kit Gleave as Duffer Joseph Despins & William Dumaresq, 1971 Cinematography | Jorge Guerra
Joseph Despins and William Dumaresq crafted this weird and entertaining movie on a budget so low it is probably best not to state it. The camera work is surprisingly solid. Actually the cinematography is far more than solid, it is artistically sound. Cinematographer, Jorge Guerra, may not have had the best equipment but he most certainly knew how to use it. The shots are often brilliant.
There is no sound. The narration and voices were recorded by a different cast. It only takes a few minutes before it is clear that the lack of sound was not going to be a deficit. In fact, the creative dubbing actually adds to this film in more ways than one. Comical and often horrifying, the dubbed dialogue serves exceptionally as an aide to the film's surrealism, dark comedy, menace and horror.
"WoManAmal!!!" Duffer's junkie gay keeper heaps on the abuse and chronicles it all for underground porn.
William Dumaresq as "Louis-Jack"
Joseph Despins & William Dumaresq, 1971
Cinematography | Jorge Guerra
The dubbing actually heightens the discomfort as we watch a young man attempt to reconcile the emotional, physical and sexual abuse of his older junkie boyfriend by engaging in an affair with a female prostitute. Enduring the sort of sadistic torment one seldom sees addressed in film, Despins and Dumaresq were extremely clever in presenting it in very dark comical ways that disturb but never so much that one needs to run for cover. The kind but obviously more than a bit twisted herself, prossie called Your Gracie gives the lost teen some solace while fully utilizing him as a tool.
Erna May as "Your Gracie" is using Kit Gleave's "Duffer," but he hopes she is saving his masculinity… Duffer Joseph Despins & William Dumaresq, 1971 Cinematography | Jorge Guerra
As the KINK/BDSM with his male keeper becomes more severe and his trysts with his female lover decrease — Duffer is pulled into his male lover's Horse addiction and begins to suffer one of the most bizarre psychosomatic delusions I've ever seen. The poor kid's delusions continue to morph into what appears to be a psychotic break. This twisted, funny, unsettling and fascinating experimental film deals with almost every aspect of human cruelty and horror imaginable. And just to amp up Duffer's already potent cinematic stew, we gradually begin to suspect that our protagonist may not be the most reliable narrator.
Just a bi-sexual boy walking through 1970 Notting Hill either on his way from or toward abuse at the hands of older suitors.
Kit Gleave in his only film role…
As the film unspools more perversities and jaw-drop moments at break-neck speed, we are constantly given an exceptional examination of 1970's Notting Hill. You may think you've seen urban decay and dystopian-like settings, but Duffer presents an England few of us have seen. Filmed on location and on the very cheap, this is perplexing and truly extraordinary view of the state of things circa 1969-1970. I realize that some of you will be annoyed that I'm grouping this film into the 1960's British New Wave, but Duffer is clearly set in the 1960's. This is not the 1970's.
The film begins with Duffer sitting alone by the water. A pretty young woman pauses as she crosses a bridge far above the handsome boy. As the film whirls to conclusion we find him once again in the same place. It is impossible to not ponder where the film's reality begins or ends. In fact, there is a distinct possibility that none of it is real. However there are just as many clues that all of what see presented has happened in reality. I'm not dropping a spoiler here, the viewer begins to distrust poor Duffer almost immediately. This is a narrator we are unable to trust. But the most jarring aspect of this film is that it presents itself solidly within the Surrealist Context.
All alone in his thoughts…
It is important to note that as much as I praise Duffer, it is not for all tastes. While never truly graphic, it is most definitely profane and very perverse. The humor is so dark that many will feel guilty laughing. This is one demented movie. It also features a deeply strange musical score from the composer who gave the world the 1960's Broadway smash, Hair. Galt McDermot's score plays like something you would hear in an alternate universe Tin Pan Alley. Just when you think you will only be hearing a piano — a quickly use of electronics starts to grind forward.
"Mind how you go…" No where in Notting Hill is safe!
Duffer screams out for repeated viewings to understand, to ensure that what you think you've just seen was actually shown and for the simple fact that this movie is endlessly entertaining. And trust me, this movie gets under your skin. Once it slips under, it stays there. In addition, something about Duffer seems to be signaling the audience to watch out for David Lynch. Were it not so very British, it could easily be mistaken for something a young David Lynch might have created. Unique, innovative, disturbing, haunting, funny and altogether original, Duffer is a must see lost British Cinematic Treasure.
Well there is nothing quite like watching your lover's home movies abusing you…
Kit Gleave watches what we can only guess hurt a great deal.
I honestly found no flaw in Duffer.
Just pulled back into darkness after being "fixed" for activities best kept there…
I loved this film, but the work of both Jane Arden and Jack Bond really blew me away. Blown out the window and lying on the pavement outside our San Francisco home, the collaborations of Arden and Bond require more than a little thought and meditation. I'm still letting their three films digest, but I'll be writing about them soon.
Pushing Feminist Agenda, Drug Experimentation, Examination and Destruction of an identity born of societal and cultural domination, Jane Arden & Jack Bond pull us into the dangerous threat of absolute madness…
Jane Arden, 1972
Cinematography | Jack Bond & Aubrey Dewar
1960's London
A Clock Work Orange
Adam Barker-Mill
Ahead of the Cultural Curve
Anal Rape
Andy Milligan
Anne Gooding
Aubrey Dewar
Barney Platts-Mills
Billy Liar
Cinematic Rebellion
Del Walker
Doctor Zhivago
Erna May
Film Artist
Gender Confusion
Georgy Girl
Hetrosexuality
Infantcide
Joan Littlewood
Karel Reisz
Kenneth Higgins
Larry Kramer
Lindsay Shonteff
Mental Break
Michaelangelo Antonioni
Petulia
Phobic
Psychosexual
Psychosomatic
Self-Loathing
Sexual Confusion
Sexuality in Film
The Angry Young Man
The Moon Over The Alley
The Music Lovers
Tony Richardson
Your Gracie
December 22nd by Matty Stanfield in	Avant-garde Film BFI British Film British Film Institute British New Wave Cinematic History Cinematic Impact Cinematic Imprint Cinematic Intent Cinematic Language Cinematic Masterpiece Cinematic Metaphor Cinematic Motivation Cinematic Provocation Cinematic Resonates Cinematic Revolt Cinematography Cinephile Controversial Film Cult Classic Cult Film Culture Duffer Experimental Film Feminist Film Film Art Film Artists Film Criticism Film Directors Film Evaluation Film History Film of Note Film Preservation Film Re Evaluation Film Re-Distribution Film Resonation Film Restoration Film Theory Film Therapy Filmmakers Iconic Film Identity Important Film Independent Film Influential Cinema Intellectualism International Film Jack Bond Jane Arden Japanese New Wave Jorge Guerra Joseph Despins Ken Russell La Nouvelle Vague Lost Film Art Movies NeoRealism Neuer Deutsche Film Polish New Wave Pop Art Pop Culture Post-Modern Film Provocative Film Separation Sexual Revolution Sexuality Surrealism The Devils Underground Film William Dumaresq
Food, Sex & Death or La Grande Bouffe
I have been reading and hearing about Marco Ferreri's notorious 1973 film, La Grande Bouffe, since adulthood.
Le Grande Bouffe
Marco Ferreri, 1973
Yet I had never had the opportunity to see it until the folks at Arrow Films saw fit to restore and release the film. Even well over 42 years since it debuted at The Cannes Film Festival, this film is still notorious. A simple "google" reveals that Ingrid Bergman tossed her cookies trying to watch it when she was sitting on The Cannes Jury. Marcello Mastroianni's then lover, Catherine Deneuve, did not speak to him for two weeks after she saw the film. Despite some controversy, the movie was received well be most critics. In fact, Marco Ferreri tied with Jean Eustache and won Cannes' FIPRESCI Prize. It was also nominated for The Palme d'Or. However, nearly all the positive reviews acted as a warning to the film's admittedly grotesque use of food, bodily functions and sexuality. There was also an on-going argument in France and among cinephiles as to whether or not this film was bombastic provocation or bold metaphorical satire. Another argument centered on whether the film could be labeled as "Surrealism" or "Absurdism."
There can be no denying that Le Grande Bouffe strikes a off-key chords of disgust and repulsion. At the same time, a viewer would be hard-pressed to argue that this strange movie fails to entertain. Most importantly, it does have something to say about the state of society that remains incredibly valid all these years later.
Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Philippe Noiret and Michel Piccoli play friends who have grown bored with life, but they have a plan!
Cinematography | Mario Vulpiani
Gathering a spectacular cast of mid-1970's actors (Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Ugo Tognhzzi) together as a group of wealthy men who have lost the desire to live. More to the point, wealthy men who have allowed respective desires to form the focal point of life. And desire alone is certainly not a healthy or sustaining "diet." This of course ties into the metaphor of consumerism.
As a successful and renowned chef, Ugo Tognhzzi, has spent his life perfecting his dishes to the point that he no longer finds joy in the making or the eating of food. Michel Piccoli is a successful television producer and journalist who seems to have lost interest in what he does. Philippe Noiret may be a respected and powerful judge, but his life has been spent interpreting law and handing out verdicts. Any hope for something deeper appears to have been sapped by an on-going inappropriate sexual relationship with his childhood nanny. It becomes clear that this nanny has been sexually abusing him since he was a child. Sexuality and intimacy clearly lead Philippe to muted place of discomfort. Most explored is the dilemma facing Marcello Mastroianni's character.
It is Marcello who insists on hiring some prostitutes to join the friends for "the fun." With a hooker's panty as an eye patch — Let the eating and fornication begin!
A successful airline pilot, this man focuses all energy on pursuing sexual conquests and resulting pleasures. Sex is of utmost importance to Marcello, but it has become a hallow experience which seems to be heading the way of impotence.
These four friends gather with the plan to fully indulge in a hedonistic series of feasts with the goal of literally eating themselves to death. Enter an idea of "Surrealism" which is not really accurate. While it might be very hard, in theory an individual could eat him/herself to death. Yes, it might be very difficult but it can be done. The film's core plot is less Surreal and more Absurdist. Le Grande Bouffe is also satire at it's most dark and revolting. The film is very focused on the human body and digestion.
Ah, delicious!
Michel Piccoli examines the head of a newly butchered hog.
Quite literal in its use of The Scatacological, The Big Feast is filled with fart sound effects, swelling bellies, burbs, vomiting, exploding toilets, plumbing and colon ruptures. Uncontrolled defecation and farting are less funny when presented so graphically and for so long. In many ways Ferreri is testing his audiences' patience and will to make it through his movie.
Mastroianni's character's life focus is sex. As soon as the men settle in to the ornate house where they plan to kill themselves, he decides he must have sex or the "fun" of gorging themselves to death will not be as rewarding. Enter the prostitutes and the friends' mutually shared view of women as objects.
Appreciating the nude art on the grounds…
These men have essentially no real healthy connection to women. They are playthings with very little else to offer. Marco Ferreri has cast some truly beautiful actresses as the film's prostitutes. It is hard to know if any of these actors can act because they are given very little to do other than to offer their bodies to the men. Of course, we are never allowed to forget that this is not "fun" for the women. They are there for the money. It is interesting to note that it the prostitutes who quickly grasp what is going on amongst these friends. These women have no concern regarding their clients' macabre plan. They just want to be paid.
Late 1960's/Early 1970's Euro-Sex Symbol, Solange Blondeau, is given the most to do and she does it well. Disgusted by the amount of food she sees, she voices complaint at the lunacy because she is almost ill just watching the eating not out of any concern. She and another prostitute briefly discuss the unimportance of men. Solange goes along for the ride.
Marcello seems more interested in the manifold as phallus and food than Solange's beauty.
Mastroianni, Blondeau and intrusive manifold…
When Marcello brings her into the garage to show her a beautiful antique car, she is less annoyed by his use of a manifold as phallus than she is by the food he forces her to eat. The scene is intentionally gross. There is nothing erotic here. But there is another invited guest to these friends' Nihilistic big feasts, a seemingly "proper" elementary school teacher. This was Andrea Ferreol's film debut. She is positively brilliant in this film and offers an interestingly odd twist to the tale.
It may not be clear if the teacher understands, but there is nothing "appropriate" or remotely innocent about her. She quickly seduces Philippe's judge. She cleverly morphs from sweet school teacher to zaftig Sex Kitten. Not only eager to have sex with the judge, she is more than willing to serve as erotic object for all four men. Andrea Ferreol is stunningly beautiful, but not in the conventional way of the prostitutes. Interestingly, it is Andrea who Marco Ferreri attaches cinematic eroticism. It is actually only with her that he indulges in 1970's Euro-Eroticism.
Andrea Ferreol gladly offers up her lovely body to Marcello Mastroianni. Despite her beauty and willingness to play his games, he has lost the ability to participate. The film is very clear that this is not her fault.
Andrea Ferreol & Mastroianni
A pale, curvaceous and inviting bounty of flesh, Andrea is the true sexual feast for these men. Ever game for anything each man wants to try or do, Andrea is also craving the food and the sex. In one of the more darkly comic and equally disgusting scenes, Andrea forces herself on an ailing Michel. As Michel moans in pain Andrea rides hard and fast. As he submits so do his bowels. It is deeply repulsive but inexplicably funny. Later she will allow Ugo to use her shapely buttocks to form a huge tart. She also attempts to satisfy Marcello's erotic needs with little luck. As inappropriate as everything is, there is something to be said about the fact that Ferreri celebrates Andrea's body rather than make fun of it.
However, there is something sinister about Andrea. Aside from the fact that she is not bothered by the sight, sounds, smells of stomach-churning bodily functions — she is ever eating though never to the point of the extreme as her hosts. She is also forever wanting to sex it up. Most disturbingly, she seems to take great joy in assisting these men in their pursuit of death by gluttony. She begins to take a sort of psychopathic joy in it. Andrea is fully committed to assisting these men on their mission. Andrea Ferreol is easily the best performance in the film. And it is completely fearless.
Look! More food! EAT THIS!
Suffice to say, this is a very strange movie. It is also almost epic in length. It runs over two hours. This is a long film. It is certainly not for everyone. However, there is a great deal that is worthy here.
While there is most certainly a societal commentary being expressed, in the end friendship and shared sadness seem to be almost as essential as the societal aspects. Amidst all the folly and nauseating actions, the filmmaker succeeds in demonstrating the love shared by these four men. Ultimately, they stand united. A very wrong and warped idea emerges that despite all of their faults, these four men have each other. It is an unexpected bit of human tenderness that manages to surface. No matter how one wants to find meaning, this film is well made, provocative, energetic and crudely funny.
Somehow Marco Ferreri film makes us actually care about these sad men. That in of itself is a major feat.
Uh, oh. A colon rupture! Um, yes. It is shown.
If I had to offer an easy summary of this early 1970's film it would be to imagine Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover as an obvious comedy and minus vengeance. Actually, I'd be willing to bet that Greenaway's film would not exist had Ferreri's film never been made. There are a number of similarities. Greenaway had already cast Andrea Ferreol in his earlier brilliant film, A Zed and Two Noughts. Interestingly, Greenaway's NC-17 film had an easier time in the late 1980's than Ferreri's film in the early 1970's. The film was heavily censored and even banned. Locating a full cut of this film has been difficult until Arrow Films' recent restoration.
Food, Sex & Human Cruelty
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Peter Greenaway, 1989
Cinematography | Sacha Vierny
Of course, Greenaway had a far more crucial political satire in mind at the time he made The Cook. While Marco Ferreri's societal commentary is aimed at consumerism and the vacancy of wealthy men, Peter Greenaway was intellectually crafting a gut-punching critique of Thatcher's England the human cruelty that resulted within it. It is the better film, but in many ways it is even harder to watch.
Michael Nyman's iconic musical score for this infamous 1989 film. It is a major player in Greenaway's film. La Grande Bouffe also offers a surprising importance on it's musical score. And the score is totally mis-matched to our perceptions of what we anticipate in the way of a musical film score. Philippe Sarde composed a truly lovely score for the twisted La Grande Bouffe. It is music of bittersweet lush romanticism.
Interestingly, Sarde's score makes sense.
"Why eat when there is no hunger?"
Michel Piccoli & Solange Blondeau
And here lies the major challenge of La Grande Bouffe: Is the 'pay-off' worth the investment of time to watch it?
Yes and no. I think the answer to this question can only be answered on an individual basis. Despite the unpleasantness, I think this is a well-crafted and important film. That being stated, approach with caution. It is rare that I agree with the MPAA, but La Grande Bouffe is deserving of the "NC-17" rating that it has been assigned.
And a tip of the hat to Arrow Films of the UK as they continue to raise their bar on restoration and distribution beyond region restrictions.
Their job is every bit on par with The Criterion Collection. I suspect that we are going to see an interesting turn in the world of Art House Boutique Labels as Arrow Films continues to have a more current perspective on Film Art while The Criterion Collection seems to be continuing to lose touch with their younger audiences' cinematic interests. Do not mis-read me. TCC is going nowhere, but their recent choices for film restoration/distribution have been more than a little off. Arrow Films seems to be taking appropriate aim at Film Art that appeals to a growing population of younger cinephiles who have interest beyond the Film Masters.
Matty Stanfield, 11.5.15
A Zed and Two Noughts
Absurdism
Andrea Ferreol
Bodily Functions
Boutique Labels
Colon Rupture
Consmerism
Defecation
Drug Induced Filming
Female Beauty
FIPRESCI Prize
French-Italian Film
His Wife & Her Lover
Impodence
Indegestion
Infamous Film
Jean Eustache
Mario Vulpiani
Maro Ferreri
Peter Greenaway
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Sarde
Provcative
Sacha Vierny
scatological
Sex Kitten
Solange Blondeau
Thatcher's England
The Cannes Film Festival
Transgressive Art
November 5th by Matty Stanfield in	1970's Cinema Arrow Films Art House Cinema Artistic Intention Cinematic Arts Cinematic Debate Cinematic Eroticism Cinematic Ethics Cinematic Gems Cinematic History Cinematic Intent Cinematic Metaphor Cinematic Motivation Cinematic Provocation Dark Comedy Eroticism Excuses for Bad Behavior Existentialism Experimental Cinema Film Film Art Film Criticism Film Directors Film Evaluation Film History Film Perservation Film Re Evaluation Film Re-Distribution Film Restoration Film Theory La Grande Bouffe Marco Ferreri Shock Cinema The Big Feast
Yes, but is it Art or Lost and Forgotten Films
There are so many films out there that have been forgotten and or lost.
Mike Nichols, 1971
As we enter the 21st Century, the choices applied by major studios and various production companies often appears to have no grounding in logic.
For instance, Mill Creek Entertainment has US/Canada home distribution rights for such major players as Sony, Universal, Warner Brothers and Buena Vista. These studios and major distributors have historic catalogs of cinema. Yet, Mill Creek is more interested in re-mastering such films as Barnet Kellman's painful 1992 Straight Talking in which Dolly Parton is romanced by James Woods!
Miami Rhapsody
David Frankel, 1995
They also were very quick to get such "cinematic classics" as Another Stakeout, The Legend of Billie Jean, Old Gringo, Playing God, Color of Night and Miami Rhapsody.
This isn't some little "deal" that Mill Creek Entertainment has established, it is major. This company works with Sony and Warner Brothers who tend to be the cheapest and most difficult of the major studios when it comes to their respective back catalog. However, Mill Creek has never shown any sort of interest in distributing the films that many would like to see remastered and available.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Were it not for smaller film distribution labels like Olive Films, Twilight Entertainment, Shout Factory and most importantly The Criterion Collection many an iconic film would still be sitting fading away in the shelf of some disorganized storage area.
Claudia Weill, 1978
As it is, Twilight Entertainment has managed to get a foot in by agreeing to a limited printing. This means that less popular, but far more artistically valid films that Sony and Warners have denied other offers find a way to a limited restoration and release.
But when Twilight is limited to only 3,000 pressings, the cost jumps up to $30 retail.
Andy Warhol's Dracula
AKA Young Dracula or Blood for Dracula
Paul Morrissey, 1974
And films like Woody Allen's Love and Death, Purple Rose of Cairo and Crimes and Misdemeanors immediately push close to selling out. Same goes for Steel Magnolias or François Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black or the iconic Sidney Pollack teaming of Streisand and Redford in The Way We Were. These films are sold for $30 for a few weeks before they start going for as high as $60 or more on Amazon from other sellers. Amazon does not sell Twilight directly.
Alan Parker, 1982
So, why does Mill Creek Entertainment prefer Mike Binder's Holy Matrimony to The Bride Wore Black or The Way We Were? The knee-jerk answer is that Mill Creek can crank out 500,000 pressings of mediocre comedies to sell via Walmart, BestBuy or Amazon for as low as $5 to $10 a pop.
Apparently, when shoppers see a Blu-Ray featuring any movie star they recognize, they will pay $8 without a second thought. Easy profits. But that is not always the case.
Blowup
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966d
Reasons can range from obscure licensing challenges for piece of music that Warners or Sony is not willing to negotiate and that Mill Creek doesn't want to have to pay. Or, from time to time, there is often a more sinister element going on: Woody Allen, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Barbra Streisand and Jane Fondas' movies will be even more profitable after each's respective death.
And sometimes it amounts to insecurities about stirring up old wounds of the filmmakers themselves. These wounds can be gushing blood after decades or can be so minor it can be puzzling.
Hal Ashby, 1975
But more often than not, the reason that films are forgotten or lost is because no one in positions of power ever think of them.
In recent years Warner Brothers has started their DVD-R printings of more obscure movies under their Warner Archive. This is cool, but limited. A vast number of Warner Brothers films remain unavailable — and many of the ones that are available by order are poorly re-mastered.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg, 1977
Anyone curious to see the infamously failed film version of Portnoy's Complaint will discover a muddy pint in which everything within the image has been stretched up/down so that Karen Black and Richard Benjamin are cartoon thin. The entire raunchy movie is there, but presented in a manner reminiscent of pre-cable late night shows when no one knew how to translate big screen films to fit onto TV screens. When Warners does take the time to press a few buttons and get the film to an acceptable aspect ratio, they do not bother to remaster.
Irvin Kershner, 1972
A classic example of Warner Brothers Archive Collection logic is found in the recent release of Tony Scott's iconic and Cult Film Classic, The Hunger. A movie that features the likes of David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon as well as sleekly applied style and some great music from Bauhaus and Iggy Pop has been transferred to Blu-Ray using an even lesser quality transfer than MGM used for the initial DVD release.
Don't be fooled, Warner Archive did not bother to get the aspect ratio correct. You are not seeing the full picture. And I'm not certain, but I don't think there has even been a 2K restoration here. The picture quality is not bad, but it is far from great. Worse yet, the audio is lousy. The old MGM DVD sounded better. Of course my DVD died several years back. I was stuck with the Warner released DVD which was actually a bit better than their new Blu-Ray.
They did a similar job with Nicolas Roeg's co-directing debut, Performance. Yet, for reasons unknown they did actually bother to do a 2K restore for John Schlesinger's Far From The Madding Crowd to Blu-Ray. It has yet to sell as well as either Performance or The Hunger.
Despite all sorts of grass-roots pushes and a an uncountable number of Film Historians, Film Production/Distribution companies and the request of an entire nation — Yes, Great Britain and the highly valued and respected British Film Institute reached out — Warner Brothers continues to refuse the release of Ken Russell's original cut of The Devils.
No reason has ever been given.
Britain and the BFI fared best, however they were presented with an inferior quality and edited version of the film which they were only allowed to release in a UK region restricted limited pressing. While Warners did give BFI the choice to issue to Blu-Ray, BFI declined and limited the release to DVD as the quality of what Warner Brothers gave them was too poor to merit the Blu-Ray treatment.
As The Devils is an historic part of British Film History and an important work of art, BFI wanted to have a full copy of the film secured in their registry.
However, the print that Warners gave had to be returned.
So BFI now has a restored copy of a copy of an edited version of The Devils.
"Birdshit!"
In the upcoming several months a number of films are being re-evaluated for restoration and re-distribution. Who knows if any of this which is largely connected to the Film Festival Circuit will have any impact. However if one of these film matters to you, the best thing to do is review the film on Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB.
Oddly, sales from the Warner Archive do not seem to have much if any bearing on whether or not a movie will be restored. But folks who sign up for Amazon.com wait lists have initiated restorations. This was how Warner Brothers came to issue The Hunger to Blu-Ray and the two factors that have made Twilight Time embark on films like The Way We Were and Yentl.
Richard Lester, 1968
A not so great transfer of Roeg's odd cult film, Track 29 staring a young Gary Oldman, sold very well. This has caused a current "re-visit" of this infamous cinematic error as a possible film for restoration. Yet, the inferior region-free DVD's of Ken Russell's The Devils constantly sell out. Warner Brothers does not budge.
Another mystery with Warner Brothers is the poor quality and refusal to restore and re-distribute KLUTE. A film that has a large following, remains valid and of interest. Something similar was going down with Blowup, but that issue might have finally been resolved. Fingers-crossed. Another very popular film which is in theory no longer in print would be Richard Lester's Petulia. As well as John Schlesinger's Darling which shot Julie Christie to fame.
Both remain unrestored.
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
Otto Preminger, 1970
And, then there is the interest in Otto Preminger's ill-advised 1970's Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon which features a young Liza Minnelli facing deformity and trying to find a place among those whom society has labeled misfits. The film is flawed, but there are many a film fan who wants to own this odd cult film. Yet, no restoration or distribution is in sight. But Preminger's far worse movie, Skidoo, was restored and issued to Blu-Ray. So who knows?
But it would appear the most valued currency for film consensus may be moving over to Letterboxd. Register. Review and "Like" reviews of the film or films you want to see restored. Register and make comments on The Criterion Forum.
The Criterion Forum Org
Believe it or not, this information is monitored. All of this might seem futile, but it isn't.
Welcome To L.A.
Alan Rudolph, 1976
Alan Rudolph's early work is being "re-visited."
This is how we got Rosemary's Baby, Moonrise Kingdom, The American Dreamer, Cat People, The Werner Herzog Collection, Safe, Black Moon, The Night Porter, Pillow Book, Audition, The Telephone Book, Seconds, Dressed To Kill, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Two-Lane Blacktop, Harold & Maud, The Rose and All That Jazz restored and re-distributed to Blu-Ray and HD.
Often Paramount and Fox are easier for boutique labels to secure deals because the licensing with these studios tends to be a bit less restrictive. A great number of their films were actually independent films that were picked up for distribution. As an example, Paramount had the rights for distribution for Rosemary's Baby, but it was limited. The film technically belongs to Robert Evans and Roman Polanski.
Alan J. Pakula, 1971
And of course there is the very much available for restoration and re-distribution film of legend, BOOM!, just waiting for Shout Factory or Vinegar Syndrome.
Keep the faith.
Matty Stanfield, 9.22.15
Alan J. Pakula
Alan Rudolph
Andy Warhol's Dracula
Barnet Kellman
Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Claudia Weill
Film Directors of Note
Film Festival Circuit
Harold & Maud
Junie Moon
Miami Rhspsody
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Mill Creek Entertainment
Moonrise Kingdom
Portnoy's Complaint
Remastering
Straight Talking
Tell Me That You Love Me
The American Dreamer
The Criterion Forum
The Walker Center
The Werner Herzog Collection
Twilight Time
Two-Lane Blacktop
September 22nd by Matty Stanfield in	BFI Columbia Pictures Film Film Art Film Criticism Film Preservation Film Restoration Film Theory Olive Films Paramount Shout Factory Sony The Criterion Collection Twilight Entertainment Universal Studios Warner Archive Collection Warner Brothers
Obsession, Lust, Games and Provocation: Forgotten Cinematic Treasures
Tastes being subjective, Film Theorist and Film Preservationists are and will always need to continually "re-assesing" the value and merit of the art form.
A good football coach can get away with murder. …And, if the coach is a closeted movie star he can get away with even more!
Roger Vadim, 1971
Perhaps the most challenging sort of movie to asses are those cinematic oddities that simply refuse to go away. Cult Films are an essential part of the cultures that produced them. Some are worthy of their "cult" status and others require massive abuse of drugs to share in the "joy."
However, just because something is "exploitive" or "tacky" does not immediately excuse if from being re-visted, restored and re-distributed. Very often it boils down to the fact that a movie is "exploitive" and "tacky" that ends up making it relevant. A movie might create a permanent stain on our cultural fabric. Sometimes it is better to cover the stain with a Ron Howard movie and hope no one ever notices it again. Other times we need to frame that "stain" and celebrate it.
I love all kinds of film. But I have a soft spot for misfits and movies so painfully "bad" they work themselves around to being "exceptionally fun" — such is the case of Berry Gordy's horrifyingly funny 1975 cinematic error, Mahogany, in which poor Ms. Diana Ross must climb the depraved ladder of fashion to achieve superstar success.
Um, do you know where you're going to?
Miss. Ross is
Berry Gordy, 1975
We cringe as she is forced into awkward situations with Anthony Hopkins. Playing a celebrated fashion photographer, Hopkins is once again cast as a psycho in jeans so tight they actually might have been sewn onto him. Equally uncomfortable is the fact that Diana Ross saw this movie as chance to show off her personal "fashion design" brilliance.
"Give it to me, baby!"
Anthony Perkins / Diana Ross
Yes, she designs her own clothing. And it hurts. But Mahogany goes about everything just a bit too hard and too much to make it worthy of trying to save. It will always offer fun to some, but not enough to warrant a restoration. Don't flame me if you disagree. I'm just stating an opinion.
Richard Elfman's one directorial effort is insane, offensive, profane and an incredibly bad movie. Yet, The Forbidden Zone, is so strange and brimming over the top with creativity, ideas, talent and sheer force of will — It will never go away!
"Why does it feel so good to be sooooo bad?"
Susan Tyrrell & Hervé Villechaize
Richard Elfman, 1980
Cinematography | Gregory Sandor
And it shouldn't. In addition, TFZ is a musical staring Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell and Danny Elfman! Danny is Richard's little brother. The Forbidden Zone demanded a revisit! It was restored and re-distributed. It is just as bad as Mahogany, but what it offers is so unique, entertaining and odd that it's horrible glory can't be ignored or forgotten. In it's own way, The Forbidden Zone is a brilliant off-kilter work of art.
I thought I'd briefly mention some movies that have recently been revisited/restored and a couple that I feel deserve to have a re-visit or reconsideration.
Warner Brothers often makes odd choices regarding what films within their massive achieve are deemed to be of value for restoration and redistribution. They continue to release Ken Russell's controversial The Devils. They also refuse to allow Irvin Kershner's Up The Sandbox to be properly re-stored and issued to HD/Blu-ray quality and format. Yet, they are more than eager to restore the Bette Davis & Robert Montgomery contractual obligation of 1948, June Bride. They have also allowed the forgettable Herbert Ross George Burns and Walter Matthau vehicle, The Sunshine Boys, to be restored.
Angie Dickinson as Miss Betty Smith, well versed in grammar, murder and free sexual guidance to her more advanced students.
Cinematography | Charles Rosher Jr.
It took Warner Brothers decades to decide to offer a "clean-up" but not fully restored DVD/VOD of Roger Vadim's infamous exploration film, Pretty Maids all in a Row. This nasty little 1971 movie features an unforgettable cast of actors — almost all of whom appear to be a little uncomfortable for the duration of the movie. The idea in 1970 was to allow Roger Vadim free-reign to create a satirical and perverse sex comedy to bring in the big bucks and to revitalize Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinsons' respective careers.
Interestingly, it would go on to inspire a major network to create a classic iconic TV series for Telly Savalas called Kojack. Yes, kids. We have this amazingly twisted and so-bad-it's-good Cult Film to blame (or thank) for the 1970's Kojack. The film didn't do much for anyone else. If anything it killed a few potential careers as casually as it kills cheerleaders. Joy Bangs, anyone? With a name and body like that she was expected to go far, but this would be one of her last bids of fame.
But rest easy, plans are lurking to fully restore and redistribute this cinematic oddity to HD/Blu-ray. But keep your fingers crossed just to be safe. But within the next 6 to 8 months!
Check out Todd Gaines review of this film on LetterBoxd. He sums this film up better than I ever could:
http://letterboxd.com/todd_gaines/film/pretty-maids-all-in-a-row/
Warner Brothers has also finally surrendered and agreed to "restore" Tony Scott's infamous, iconic, controversial and much admired cult classic of Vampiric-Cool, The Hunger. Sadly, WB has taken it upon themselves to do this. The Blu-Ray will be released next Tuesday, 8.18.15! The transfer looks good and the sound is improved from the DVD release. It could have been better, but it is still worthy improvement.
Nothing loves forever. Especially Catherine Deneuve.
Tony Scott, 1983
Very loosely based on Whitley Strieber's novel, Tony Scott was far more interested in style and the hopelessly cool cast he managed to assemble in this very entertaining Art-Horror Film. It often seems like we are seeing only the coolest of the early 1980's NYC Art Scene hiding around the corners as Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie pursue their blood-lust. One of their first victims is Eternal Hipster, Ann Magnuson. Not to mention the fact that movie opens with Peter Murphy and the legendary British Goth Rock band, Bauhaus – crooning their seminal hit, "Bela Lugosi's Dead."
"undead. undead. undead"
Peter Murphy / Bauhaus
Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt
It is an artfully and darkly shot bit of early 1980's stylistic chic. It is also one of the most erotic vampire films you will ever see. Man, woman, gay, straight, trans or any existence between — you're bound to find Catherine Deneuve's seduction and love-making to Susan Sarandon hot. …hot as well as kind of funny and still a bit surprising.
Lesbian Vampire Sex was never meant to be this hot!
Sarandon / Deneuve
Tony Scott loses his way with the story. As the film sleeks casually and oh-so-cool toward it's end, you realize that it may not make any logical sense whereas in the novel the ending was truly disturbing and unforgettable. With this awesome movie, the ending is not so important as how neat it all looks! Seriously. This graphic film of obsession, lust, fear of aging and AIDS metaphor is amazing.
Uber-Cool Ann Magnuson is about to get more from David Bowie than she probably anticipated.
The Hunger even manages to be creepy. Oh, and be sure to play this film really loud. Crank that sound up!
Sandy Dennis does her unique Sandy Denis-thing as Miss. Frances Austen in
We have Olive Films to thank for rescuing Robert Altman's deeply odd / disturbing 1969 psycho-sexual thriller, That Cold Day in the Park, back from the land of the forgotten. While Olive Films restoration abilities are severely limited, they do a decent job. It is a far cry better than allowing this classic film from rotting somewhere at Paramount.
Initially, this Canadian movie was brought back to life by Bruce LaBruce's 1991 super-lo-fi film, "No Skin Off My Ass." LaBruce's framed that entire film off a distorted VHS copy of Altman's movie. Altman's 1969 film was dismissed and quickly faded into obscurity. Thanks to LaBruce's underground film and Altman fans this film has returned from its imposed exile. It would take two decades but Olive Films brought the original film back to life!
Poor Miss. Frances Austen. She tries not to look, but she seems to live in a house of mirrors.
Sandy Dennis / Michael Burns
Cinematography | László Kovács
Sandy Dennis plays her character like only Sandy Dennis can. She is a wealthy but lonely virgin spinster. She lives a seemingly mundane life among older people. It is never clearly articulated, but thanks to Dennis' performance we receive several clues that something is wrong with "Miss. Frances Austen." Actually, we are almost certain something is very much wrong.
When she notices an apparently homeless, mute and handsome man sitting alone on a park bench in the park, Miss. Frances Austen breaks convention and insists the "helpless" boy come to her swank home to warm up and have some food. She sends her cook and butler away. Why does she even have a cook and a butler in such a small but nice condo? It is never clear.
Now, we'll just play a little game.
This film was mis-judged by film critics at the time of its release. It is an appropriate bookend to Altman's interest in the psycho-sexual thriller. A few laters, Altman would pursue this genre again in "Images" — a film which received more acclaim than I think it deserved. Here, in "TCDITP" Altman more precisely and effortlessly slips into a woman's damaged psyche. Much of the credit is deserved to Sandy Dennis. The film is short and fast-paced. Yet it is filled with fairly uncomfortable and realistic scenes between Dennis and Michael Burns as the handsome young man. As Miss. Frances Austen begins to open-up to the mute mostly nude young man who is unable to speak either with/to her — things start to take an oddly warped vibe. Clearly, Miss. Frances Austen (and her name bears repeating) is a virgin and dealing with a whole lot more than sexual repression.
"I'm not going to get under the covers or anything. I'll just lay on top. I have to tell you something. If you feel that you want to make love to me, it's all right. I want you to make love to me. Please."
Sandy Dennis on the verge of something…
The "twist" does not come as a "surprise" or even a device in a very smart move by Robert Altman. We know what is coming. This handsome mute boy is "playing" Miss. Frances Austen. He is using her for his own twisted fun and grift. The actually unexpected "twist" comes shortly after the "expected" one. After this twist is delivered, the viewer is likely to chuckle and feel reasonably entertained by this strange little movie. The thing is — Robert Altman and Sandy Dennis had just pulled-off a great cinematic trick:
The final turn of the movie isn't going to leave your mind. What seems comical gradually takes on the sinister and disturbing.
Just because it says "Exit" doesn't mean it is a way out.
Robert Atman, 1969
A long neglected bit of cinematic magic has been saved by Olive Films. Do not miss it. Unlike the above mentioned films, this one is truly outstanding. There are really no jokes, camp or "bad" moments. Altman's That Cold Day in the Park is near perfect.
Like Olive Films, Shout Factory has also done an amazing job of saving, restoring and re-distributing forgotten cinematic history. Unlike Olive Films, Shout Factory has a been more of a budget and access to more fully restore film. While far from being able to achieve what The Criterion Collection can, Shout Factory does great work. Perhaps their most important gift to Film Restoration is it's recent release of Werner Herzog: The Collection. The set features 15 of the brilliant director's best work. Thus far, Shout Factory has released 3 of those individually.
Their collection continue to grow. Thus far the films that they have restored and distributed that meant the most to me have been Cat People, Audition and The Herzog Collection. That doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed other re-discoveries. Perhaps my most personal favorite film that Shout Factory rescued would be Lewis John Carlino's much neglected and forgotten pretty mess of a movie, The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea.
Kris Kristofferson / Sarah Miles
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea
Lewis John Carlino, 1976
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe
Yukio Mishima's exceptionally interesting, disturbing and thematic novel lost almost all of what makes it so brilliant when Lewis John Carlino adapted it for the screen in the mid-1970's. It would be wrong to state that this film starring Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson is good. But it would be equally unfair to say that it holds no interest or merit. Carlino's film is just strange enough to make it all interesting. Carlino's interest in bringing Mishima's book to the screen is limited to the perverse eroticism and sociopathic tendencies of the stepson. And, get ready. This is one of those "WTF" 1970's Cinematic Moments.
Jonathan Kahn as the son and stepson to The Sailor has a few issues…
Filmed in a "Vasoline Gauzed Haze" a loney and sex-starved widow/mother sits in isolation. She is unaware that her seemingly sweet son has drilled a peephole into her bedroom so that he can watch her. The son watches her masturbate as well as cry. Now, one would assume that the son is "getting-off" on this. But that is not necessarily the case. It is never clear.
Anne's son likes to watch.
When a tired and weary sailor meets "Mummy," Sarah Miles falls immediately in love as does Kristofferson. At the time of the film's release much to do was made over some infamous sex scenes between the two actors. Though, most of those scenes failed to make it into the movie, but went straight to Playboy Magazine for marketing.
The Sailor falls…
Kris Kristoffers getting very personal with Sarah Miles
But what a campaign it was! Interestingly, the eroticism remains running between Miles and Kristofferson, but their on-screen eroticism is not as bold as the following snaps from the movie that went to the cutting room floor to avoid an "X-Rating" — they served to promote the movie even today.
"Mummy's" sweet son is troubled by the Sailor's decision to abandon his life at sea to live with he and his mother. His level of cruelty as "the leader" of his band of fellow "enfant terrible" begins to even make his followers a bit nervous.
This is one poor little kitty who should make a run for it!
The Sailor catches the sun watching him make love to his wife and the boy's mother. Well, things just take a very twisted turn after this.
Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson made the news with this infamous scene.
The movie is a cinematic error. It doesn't work, but it doesn't work so well that it offers a sort of interesting appeal that almost slips into "camp" but instead loops itself into a decidedly sick and twisted cult movie. The sad thing about this film is that Yukio Mishima's novel would make for an amazing film if the filmmaker were talented enough to translate/adapt it for the screen. The book is so dark and the themes so complex, it is doubtful any will attempt it.
AVCO Embassy Pictures did a great deal of cutting to secure an already-pushed R-Rating
As silly as the movie is, be warned that the depictions of animal cruelty and sexuality are fairly realistic/graphic. The actors do a fairly decent job. For most of us, however, the movie will neither shock or disturb us as much as it causes pause.
How in the world did this movie ever get made?!?!?
Sarah Miles and Kris Kristofferson serve as specimens for voyeuristic interest and psychotic interests.
If we didn't need further proof that 1970's decade was truly odd era, Carlino's adaptation of the acclaimed novel actually fit right into the cinematic syntax of it's day.
I am currently working "covertly" and "off the grid" to help find another flawed but interestingly potent b-grade mishap from the World of Grind House Cinema.
I first saw this strange drive-in / grind house movie in 2005. I had been asked to view it as a potential for a film festival. I loved it, but for all the wrong reasons. The festival passed and last night I discovered that my "screening" DVD had died. Bummer. This movie is awesome and strange. The date of 1977 is incorrect. This film was actually shot in The Bay Area in the very early 70's. It has been released under a number of times with different names. The original title was "The Seducers Deadly Game." It found it's way on double bills in NYC and LA between 1974 and 1975.
An odd venture into "Feminist" Fury is as flawed as it is interestingly brilliant.
Seymour Cassel, Sondre Locke and Colleen Camp
Death Game / The Seducers Deadly Game
Peter S. Traynor, 1977/1974
Cinematography | David Worth
Eventually thanks to Sondre Locke's fame as Clint Eastwood's leading lady, it was released again in 1977 as Death Game. This is the name that stuck and it's 1977 release was wide at drive-in's across the nation. There are also several versions floating around out there. One is an edited 91 minutes in length. The other is the one I owned which runs at about 105 minutes.
You realize that this might be a strange movie as it begins with a title card warning that everything shows is completely true. But then the screen fills with some children's artwork of family that feels a little "off" from the get-go. And a purposely annoying little sing-a-along song accompanies the credits.
The film stars Seymour Cassel as a father/husband/business man who has the house for the long weekend. All to himself, he decides to have a bit of fun. He lets it to "post-hippie-love-children" sex vixens played by the infamous Sondre Locke and Colleen Camp. Rule #1: if it is 1971/1972 and two hippie chicks knock at your door after sunset, don't let them in.
Sadly, nobody taught Mr. Cassell Rule #1 for the early 1970's.
Sondra Locke, Colleen Camp and Seymour Cassel
Death Game
Peter S. Traynor, 1977
"Sorry to bother you, really. But we're lost!"
It is important to point out that this screen caps are deeply lacking in value because the current copies available all suck. Amazon sells one, but it is shorter in length and fairly poor quality.
They seduce poor Seymour Cassel in hazy 3-way and then the sick/twisted games begin. Turns out our hot hippie vixens have more in common with Charles Manson than Rod McKuen. They also each have a bone to pick with men. And for better or worse Seymour Cassel comes to represent "Daddy" to both of them. Though, clearly adult women both claim to be minors and that he has raped them.
They quickly began calling him "Daddy." They are out for sex, blood and major home invasion wreckage. They also decide to put "Daddy" on trial for all the horrible things men have done to not only them, but for all of woman kind. Their mock trail is as comically bad as it is rather disturbing. And much like The Sailor, Seymour's cat attracts some very unwanted attention from these two crazy sisters with a grudge.
This sick movie is just wrong, but infectious. If you're like me you will be hooked to the screen until you come to the movie's equally odd thud of an ending.
The Official 1977 Movie Poster
This movie was shot in 13 days with very limited audio-recording capabilities. The entire film had to be re-dubbed. The great Jack Fisk served as set designer and his wife, Sissy Spacek, is said to have had a hand in the costuming. She apparently declined to be in the movie. Seymour Cassel hated making this movie so much that he refused to show up and dub his lines. His lines are actually spoken by a member of the crew. The dubbing impact is annoying at first but it starts to take on a sort of Surrealistic vibe as the movie progresses. It is sort of like being dropped into a total nightmare.
The thing about "Death Game" / "The Seducers" is that it is impossible not to watch. It just keeps "one-up'ing" itself scene after scene. The movie is completely insane. If you get the opportunity, see it. Be warned, as silly as it all is — this is not a movie for all tastes. Heaps of inappropriate nudity, cruelty and violence. But seriously, this movie is so bad it becomes brilliant! I'd put it one notch above Roger Vadim's also odd but big-budget "Pretty Maids all in A Row." ...this is a major compliment.
"We find you Guilty!"
I had the pleasure of asking Mr. Cassel if he would be willing to attend a screening and a have a "Q&A" with the midnight audience for a 2004 film festival. He was nice, but he quickly turned the offer down.
From my brief conversation with the great film actor, I gathered that Fisk/Spacek were involved in the production to raise some funds for a David Lynch project. Cassel could not remember, but I've always wondered if this was "Eraserhead' — much of which was actually shot in Fisk/Spaceks' garage.
At any rate he also told me that he had been informed he would receive a script, but when he showed up the plan had been changed. The entire film was to be improvised by both Sondre Locke and Colleen Camp! Improvising all of their lines under the guidance of the director, Mr. Cassel was to improvise toward their lead only. When it became clear that "sound" was not a logical expectation of this "off the grid" movie project, Mr. Cassel lost his patience. And who can blame him?
Clearly there was no love lost between this great actor and his two leading ladies and the film's director. Mr. Cassel preferred to talk about Jack Fisk, Sissy Spacek and David Lynch. Though, he couldn't remember if Lynch was ever present at the messy shot in which an entire home was essentially destroyed. However I did push him a bit.
He was genuinely shocked to discover that the screening was expected to sell out and that this little film has a following as well as having served as the subject of more than a few Doctoral Theses.
What more evil things can we do?
The last thing he said to me was, "I don't know, Kid. Go figure. Shocks the shit out of me." And then he just laughed.
The truth is we never really know how a work of art — no matter it's intention or motivation — will age.
But Film Art is far too important for us individually as well as a culturally.
We should never dismiss anything too quickly.
Like Mr. Cassel, it may shock us, but we never really know — for 20 years at least.
Catherine Deneuve is watching, hunting and smoking hot
1980's NYC Art Scene
Altered Version
Ann Magnuson
B-Grade Movie
Bruce LaBruce
Camp Film
Cinematic Twist
Dubbed Sound
Eternal Hipster
Herve Villechaize
Hippie Chicks
Joy Bangs
Kojack
László Kovács
Miss. Frances Austen
No Skin Off My Ass
Psycho-Sexual
Re-Dub
Richard Elfman
Sex Vixens
Sexual Discovery
Sexual Repression
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek's Garage
Sondre Locke
Statutory Rape
Studio Marketing
Susan Tyrell
The Herzog Collection
The Seducers Deadly Game
Whitley Strieber
August 13th by Matty Stanfield in	Art Form Berry Gordy Catherine Deneuve Cinematic Gems Cinematic History Cinematic Stain Cinematography Colleen Camp Cult Film Culture David Bowie David Lynch David Worth Deadly Game Douglas Slocombe Drive-In Movie Film Film Art Film Criticism Film History Film Preservation Film Restoration Film Theory Grind House Iconic Film Jack Fisk Kris Kristofferson Laszlo Kovacs Lewis John Carlino Lost Film Art Mahogany Olive Films Peter S. Traynor Pretty Maids all in a Row Robert Altman Roger Vadim Sandy Dennis Sarah Miles Seymour Cassel Shout Factory Sondre Lerche Stephen Goldblatt Susan Sarandon That Cold Day in the Park The Forbidden Zone The Hunger The Sailor Who Fell With Grace From The Sea Todd Gaines Tony Scott Warner Brothers
It Wants No Straps or The Devil Comes to Warner Brothers…
In the final act of William Friedkin's 1973 iconic film, The Exorcist, the film's struggling priest and his wiser elder discuss the nature of evil, how to address it and how to understand it's logic:
"Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that – do not listen."
Why her? Why this little girl?
"Why her? Why this girl?"
"I think the point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us."
The Exorcist first arrived to cinemas in December of 1973. This film's reception and the reactions it caused are of historical note. Financed and distributed by Warner Brothers the movie caused fear, panic attacks, a couple of heart attacks, repulsion, anger and accusations of "blasphemy." While The Exorcist is essentially a Supernatural Horror Film, William Friedkin's epic film was approached with a level of realism and artistry that could not be refuted. It was a highly artistically-valid film. As for being an exploitive use of a child actor and blasphemy, well The Vatican gave this film the seal of approval. It was even blessed for "realistically depicting demonic evil." Cue priests, nuns, ministers and most God-fearing people line up and see it.
Marketing The Exorcist was challenging for Warner Brothers. It was clear to everyone that this was more than just a horror film. This early poster was rejected.
If one is able to take pause and look at Friedkin's film independent of it's source novel and The Vatican, this movie also offers an interesting spin on the state of American Culture at the beginning of the 1970's.
Another "mock-up" idea for promoting that felt a little too After School Special for most at Warner Brothers.
It can easily be summed up as metaphor for the feeling that parents had lost control of their children amid the emergence of "Anti-Establishment Movement" to "Sexual Revolution" to "Drug Culture" to the ever-increasing power of Rock rebellion.
Eureka! And Warner Brothers creates an iconic marketing campaign by using an "altered" shot from the movie itself.
Both the novel and film also indirectly address the tragic side of becoming a priest. The film conveys that Jason Miller's Priest is something more to his best priest buddy. While his friend seems to be able to repress his sexual desires, it appears to be bit more of a strain for Miller's "Father Karras" a repressed and guilt-ridden former boxer who has escaped into the Priesthood as much to do good as to escape his all-too moral desires. Interestingly, the self-proclaimed Atheist mother find it easier to accept that her daughter might be possessed by The Devil than this conflicted priest. This film is also examining the impact of repression and the reasons men decide to become priests. Granted, it is in a somewhat passive way, but it is there.
"Stick your cock up her ass, you motherfucking worthless cocksucker." Whether it by taunting into Father Karras' most repressed fears of self-identity or by picking at his guilt for not having cared for his mother the way he feels he should have — this demon knows the priest better than he knows himself.
Subliminal Experimental Editing – so fast you can almost mess it.
No matter how you want to interpret or view The Exorcist – the power of this infamous film is beyond denial. I remember sitting in sold-out huge Boston cineplex auditorium in 2000 to see the "Restored" and the "Version I Had Never Seen." I was actually curious to see how a modern day audience would react to this early 1970's film. I think I was expecting that we would all find the movie darkly comic. I was wrong. This was the normal "cineplex" audience. You know, the one that freely converses, talks back to the screen and generally rude masses. True to form, as the commercials and previews screened children were screaming, teenagers were tossing candy at each other and all sorts of mayhem that will ruin a movie viewing experience for me. But as soon as The Exorcist started, the entire tone of the packed auditorium changed.
By the film's midpoint you could have heard a pin drop. Almost 30 years later, this movie was freaking us out. And it still shocks.
Which brings us to one of those long pondered questions which forever escaped logic. How did WB's The Exorcist secure an
"R-Rating" by the MPPA in 1973? How did it reclaim that same rating 30 years later? Other far less sadistic or graphic films had been slapped with an "X-rating" and by 2000 we had seen the arrival of the dreaded "NC-17" label. Why would the MPAA give an art film like "Henry & June" an "NC-17" and "The Exorcist" an "R-Rating?"
One of the tamer blasphemies of Holy Icons
Granted, neither or films for children, but if I were a parent and asked to pick which of these two films were "less appropriate" for a child under 17 years of age — I would select The Exorcist. I think most would.
A sweet little girl transformed into murderous and blasphemous monster.
Linda Blair watches her Exorcist die a painful death with a mix of interest and annoyance. She didn't get his soul.
Or maybe not? I'm not a parent. Maybe I have it wrong.
To put The Exorcist's "R-Rating" in perspective, in the same year the MPAA rated The Exorcist as "R" it slapped the dreaded "X-Rating" to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now. In comparison this rating makes no sense. Luckily, Nicolas Roeg's film had Paramount behind it's distribution. Somehow the MPAA rethought it and relented an "R-Rating" for Roeg's experimental film. But only two years earlier the MPAA assigned Ken Russell's The Devils with an "X-Rating." And, this was after WB required Ken Russell to cut out a significant amount of footage. Warner Brothers held on to two copies of Ken Russell's original theatrical cut. While Russell's The Devils is a provocation, it never goes anywhere near the level of having a 14 year-old girl defile herself with a crucifix.
"Hell will hold no surprises for them!"
Warner Bros marketing campaign for
Interestingly much has been made about William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist novel having been based on an actual and true incident involving a teenage boy in the 1950's. However, when one actually looks into the "true story" much more of what actually happened is unclear. In most ways, this "true incident" appears to be largely lost within the shadows of marketing and urban legend. As grim and horrifying as The Exorcist is, both the 1973 and the 2000 versions offer the audience "hope." This is a hope grounded in faith and the power of good over evil. There is nothing at all wrong with that. But it does seem a flimsy excuse to let it pass with an "R-Rating" when Friedkin's more recent independent movie, Killer Joe, was given an "NC-17."
Interesting to note that until the MPAA introduced the "NC-17-Rating" — The official "X-Rating" was actually less restrictive in number of states. It was left to individual states and cinemas to determine the age restricted. News to me.
In Kirby Dick's 2006 documentary, This Film Is Not Rated, hidden cameras and a number of covert activities were utilized to break in to the odd world of Motion Picture Association of America's rating system. The documentary revealed several things, but only one was surprising: Every screening held by the individuals who are "chosen" to serve as raters is blessed by both a Christian Minister and a Catholic Priest. While neither is supposed to lecture or push any decision of the raters, they are free to include whatever they wish in their blessings.
And here is the answer to the mysterious reasoning behind The Exorcist rating. It is Vatican approved.
Father Granier's use of The Confessional is questionable to say the least.
Georgina Hale / Oliver Reed
It may contain graphic and obscene scenes of blasphemy, but it has a Catholic Intent. The priests fix it all! Or at least it seems to be thought.
The intent of Killer Joe is to satire the impact of greed on marginalized lower-class family dysfunction.
As for Ken Russell's The Devils? The intent is aimed as satirizing both politics and religion. It depicts both fundamental aspects of most human life as opportunities for corruption, greed, ambition and power.
Graham Armitage as France's King Louis XIII performs for Cardinal Richelieu, his assistant nuns and a slew of The French Royal Court's most depraved. The Catholic Church doesn't mind The King's sins, they just want to share in the power and the wealth…
Oh, and unlike The Exorcist — The Devils is actually based on "historic fact." I only put that in quotation marks because I am referring to 17th Century French history. However, the sources and descriptions of the events that Russell fictionalizes in The Devils tie much closer to what he shows us than anything of truth connected to The Exorcist. This means The Devils depicts a very scary moment in both French and Catholic history in which greed and power not only "suggested" nuns to blaspheme,
The Ursuline nuns are not there by choice, but because they form society's rejects. Repressed and Caged. They do not require too much in the way of pressure from The Catholic Church to slip into hysteria that quickly morphs into Satanic blasphemy.
a primary Cardinal and his priests most likely "required" their nuns to comply or face torture — nothing is too much to a rebellious priest and assist the Catholic Church forge closer to a demented French King. Ken Russell didn't even feel it necessary to change any of the actual names of the individuals who have already been forged into history.
This might explain Warner Brothers refusal to relinquish Ken Russell's infamous and acclaimed 1971 art film, The Devils. Restoration of this film is of growing concern to Film Historians and Film Art Preservationists. Film only lasts so long and only WB knows where and how their 2 copies of The Devils are being stored. WB is not known to always apply a great deal of logic to their catalog. And they have an essential collection of cinematic work.
In many ways, Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne of the Angels, is the only "innocent" character in this film. She is ill and then sexually-assulted by Exorcists and Priests to extract false confession. From the very beginning we know she is hanging on to sanity by a string.
Going into it's 45th year, this film may soon be lost forever unless WB takes care of it or releases it to a company who will. As you read this you might feel the need to roll your eyes or dismiss it, but this is worse than censorship: it comes at the risk of losing a valuable piece of cinematic history.
While I'm not sure one could state that Ken Russell's The Devils is a better film than Friedkin's The Exorcist. William Friedkin made the better film. The Exorcist is a cinematic masterpiece. No questions asked.
Ken Russell's cinematic work is challenging. An eccentric British filmmaker, he shares more in common with the films of Michael Powell or even more like those of Andrzej Zulawski. Russell's films tend to have a manic pace and no restraint. They are often bombastic, loud, crass and dangerous to know. "Women in Love" and "Tommy" are probably his two most accessible films. But his work is often magical and intellectual. In the case of The Devils, it is angry. No question that Russell was a cinematic genius. But as is the case with many genius artists, he often had a hard time restraining himself from excess and obsession.
That being stated and noting that The Exorcist is the better film. I do think a case could be argued that The Devils is an equally important film. It is also worth noting that The Exorcist has been such an influential and cultural juggernaut of world-wide scope, multiple copies in all formats exist in a number of places. The future preservation of The Exorcist is secured.
However, as time and investigations move further along — it is becoming clear that there might only be two remaining prints of The Devils as it was originally to be released in 1971. For quite a while there was thought to be a secured copy held by Ken Russell's daughter. It would appear that this is not the case. One other possibility for a print of the full film turned up as invalid. It would appear that Warner Brothers is the only one who has a pristine print of the original film.
Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne of the Angels swoons her way into a disturbing world of Christ Imagery erotic daydreaming…
Despite pleas from The British Film Institute, The Great Britain Historical Society, The Ken Russell's Estate, The BBC, The Criterion Collection and a power-laden Official Petition — Warner Brothers simply refuses to relinquish the film to anyone for any reason. It was viewed as a major victory for BFI when WB finally agreed to supply them with with limited licensing rights and a copy to "restore" and transfer limited to British Region Code DVD/Blu-Ray (no cinema screenings allowed) It didn't matter. At last an organization would be able to properly restore and save the film. It was a bit of shock for the distinguished BFI to discover that Warner would not "loan" or "share" an actual print of the film. Instead BFI received a Digi-Beta tape of the American X Certificate version. The American "X-Rated" version was even more cut up than the UK version. This Digi-Beta tape greatly limited the ability to "restore" quality and it was not the original theatrical release of the movie.
Oliver Reed as Father Urbain Grandier. While presented as a man of faith and ethics, he is also a cruel and callous man who is more than happy to seduce the females of his flock. The line between good and evil is a thin one for this "progressive" priest.
BFI did their best. The quality is better than the briefly and highly censored VHS tape WB released in the mid 1980's. Some scenes are fuzzy, some aren't, some have audio issues that could only be minimally-addressed. Worst of all, the most crucial scenes of Russell's work are still missing.
Welcome to 17th Century France. Plague is in full force as Catholic and French Histories take a dark turn.
South Korea also secured a limited licensing from WB, but this was also made from a similar Digi-Beta tape that was an "R-rated" cut of the film that had never been seen. This version actually doesn't completely make sense so much has been cut. There is one bootleg copy floating around, but the quality is so bad it is almost impossible to watch — and very often is impossible to hear.
Vanessa Redgrave's Sister Jeanne is both amused and disgusted when faced with a woman who actually seeks to devote her life to Christ. After eloquently dismissing her devotional intention to be a waste as this f Ursuline nunnery is a safe home for the deformed and unmanageable. When she discovers Father Granier has already seduced the would-be-devout-nun her jealousy and rage holds back no punches:
"Whore! Strumpet! Hypocrite! You tell me you have no vocation? Of course you have a vocation! Fornicator! Fornicator! Sacrilegious bitch! Seducer of priest, that's your calling! Your place is in a brothel. You filthy whore! Get back to the gutter where you belong!"
Warner Brothers has never actually officially addressed the reasoning behind their refusal to allow access to The Devils. Because they have stated that Ken Russell's original cut of the film is within their possession and protection, many thought that the executives were holding off to "cash in" once the film's notorious and infamous director had died. However, we lost Mr. Russell in late 2011 at the age of 84. Warner Brothers continues to refuse requests, petitions and any individual writer seeking information. The reasons for not letting the film out run deeper than any possible profit or historical cinema preservation merits.
It is particularly interesting in an age where any controversy is viewed "a selling factor" if it can make a buck. WB is a huge corporation. The bottomline and increasing profit is a main concern. So why keep The Devils hidden away? No one connected to the film's controversy is left who would care.
The only living artist who could object would be Vanessa Redgrave. She, like many who worked for Ken Russell, remained a close friend until the end of his life. She has also expressed pride in having been a part of the film and considers it one of her best bits of work. Her role was originally intended for the equally esteemed Glenda Jackson. Jackson, also a life-long friend of Ken Russell and family, had discussed the fact that she turned down Redgrave's infamous role because, at that time, she was tired of playing Russell's sexually neurotic and hysterical muse. She made that statement both in truth and jest. Years later she would film her final role in Russell's experimental and demented film Salome's Last Dance. At the time Jackson noted that she had some regrets at having not played Sister Jeanne.
Acclaimed cinematographer, David Watkin, served as Cinematographer. He remained proud of this early film for offering him some freedom in establishing his own style while adhering to Russell's vision. Prior to The Devils, Watkin was best known for having filmed 2 iconic movies: The Knack… and How to Get It and The Beatles' Help.
A perverse fantasy of a sick woman will soon help pave the way toward public execution.
Oliver Reed / Vanessa Regrave
His style was really already formed, but he felt the freedom Russell allowed offered him great benefit. He died in 2008.
Another interesting aspect of The Devils is that it features the early work of the iconic Derek Jarman. Jarman's imprint on The Devils is unforgettable. Serving as the film's production designer, The Devils features some truly amazing sets. Jarman would go on to be an important and experimental voice in Film and the art of Queer Film.
One of many post-modern sets created by then Production Designer, Derek Jarman.
Jarman's style was always unique, but it is clear that Russell's aesthetic impacted his own vision.
Aside from the Film Theory aspect, The Devils is of note because it is a fictional account of something that is of historical note for both France and The Catholic Church. This is probably a page of history that both the country and The Vatican would rather forget. Interestingly, this might be the main reason WB is not letting the film go.
Aldous Huxley plunged deep within the history of what happened in 17th Century Loudun with the publication of his historical novel, Devils of Loudun. It was a controversial read then and it still is, but there is nothing in it than can be refuted. The few times Huxley actually is forced to put forward an explanation for things unexplained he offers several ideas to explain. And all are sound.
Let the "exorcisms" begin…
Huxley crafted a historical narrative to address the controversial, mysterious and sordid historical fact that involved Cardinal Richelieu, a rebellious priest by the name of Father Urban Grandier, An Ursuline Convent of nuns and their Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne of the Angels. It is know that Father Grandier disagreed with both the King and The Catholic Church at the time. It seems fairly obvious that he seemed to disagree with idea of celibacy and was corrupt in that he engaged in sexual trysts with women of his flock. It is also of note that Father Grandier was reported to be handsome, charismatic and flirtatious. For unknown reasons, he declined Sister Jeanne's request to act as "Spiritual Advisor" for for both she and her nuns. Cardinal Richelieu already viewed Father Grandier as a threat to the church and The Church's desire to become closely aligned with The King. King Louis XIII, the infamous monarch of the House of Bourbon is a figure of legendary in and of himself. And both of these powerful men needed the other for a while due to political and power circumstances.
All the nuns are gathered to stand in giant burrial holes and "suggested" to convulse, blaspheme, carnally degrade themselves for the "good" of God. Or faces the same torture imposed upon their Superior Mother. They are all eager to follow The Cardinal, The King and The Exorcists' guidance for transgressive behavior.
In what could be compared to the Salem Witch Trails only far more perverse and blasphemous in nature, Huxley put forward a number of reasons that France, The Catholic Church and the People of Loudun thought Father Grandier had made a pact with Satan that allowed the pristine Ursuline nuns to be fully possessed by demonic forces. It is of historical record to the level of debauchery that these "possessions" led the "blessed" nuns and their "heavenly" Mother Superior to act out public acts of sexually perverse behaviors including orgies and evil sexual blasphemy with religious symbols and Christ Icons.
The King and his Royal Court make an appearance to giggle at the atrocious perversion of The Catholic Church.
Under both the blessing of the Cardinal and the approval of King Louis XIII, a series of public exorcisms were performed that involved more than just sprinkling of Holy Water. The nuns went further into "fits of hysteria" and their Mother Superior named Father Grandier as the evil responsible for their demonic actions. The public watched the acts of debauchery and exorcisms in what reads like some sick and twisted form of entertainment. The exorcisms went further into public acts of sexual torture. And then, it all stopped. The nuns and their Superior were free of their demons and redeemed in the "Eyes of God."
A fellow priest begs Granier to confess and be spared. He refuses. The guilt-ridden priest seems to be praying more for himself than Granier.
Oliver Reed / Murray Melvin
Grandier was questioned and tortured by the exorcist, the priests and their followers to extract a confession of having formed a pact with The Devil and conspiring to corrupt all of France and the Catholic Church. He never confessed or gave in to the torture. Ultimately, he was burned at the stake.
Granier refuses to give-in to the political ploy of The Cardinal's Exorcist.
Oliver Reed / Michael Gothard
Cinematography | David Watkins
This, according to history, was the only way both The King and The Cardinal could be sure that Loudun were rid of the Satanic Grip. The public execution was treated as entertainment. Everyone in the town celebrated and the nuns were also granted approval to witness the horrid death.
Father Granier's abandoned son is brought to watch his father's execution.
Georgina Hale
Huxley theorized a number of ideas. One of the most controversial being that most women who became nuns at this time had been deemed "unmanageable" and desperate for shelter. Though not completely clear, it would appear that The Mother Superior suffered some major physical birth defect. Her holiness was viewed to be a result of her plight. It is historically stated that Father Grandier enjoyed antagonizing Sister Jeanne of the Angels.
Huxley writes that the levels of sexual repressions, lack of serious faith, The Mother Superior's disdain for the priest, the fact that many of the men in Loudun viewed Grandier as a trouble-maker with both The King and The Cardinal — and ultimately the political possibilities between a power-hungry Cardinal and a possible insane and perverse King led to one of the ugliest moments in French and Catholic history.
Huxley goes into great detail about the many realistic and human possibilities that factored into this incident. He leans toward the political, hypocracy and a shared temporary delirium or hysteria for the nuns. He also suggests that it many not have been so psychological. It might have boiled down to the nuns having to do as instructed by their Cardinal. Anyway one looks at it, it is not a pretty picture of religion or politics.
Filmed at the very end of the 1960's, the political and liberal Ken Russell saw this story and the play it had inspired to be an ideal topic to explore as metaphor. Russell's The Devils is excessive in every way possible. While often beautifully staged and crafted — the film pulses with a hysterical pace. The acting is intentionally "theatrical" and most certainly presented to shock. The political ideologies spell forth throughout. Russell does not spare Oliver Reed's Father Grandier as solidly ethical character. He is impossible to like, but it is equally impossible that this character deserves what he is given. Especially since he is given it for entirely the wrong reasons.
Vanessa Redgrave fares best in the film. In fact she is fantastic in the role. She is able to match the operatic pacing of the film with a carefully eccentric and darkly comical read on her character. It is an impossibly brilliant performance. Russell presents both she and her nuns as women who have "devoted" their lives to God because society has no other use for them. The only character who appears to actually feel a true calling to the devoted life of a nun is quickly dismissed by Redgrave's Sister Jeanne of the Angels. She is too pretty to waster her time locked up in the convent. And what a convent it is. While Redgrave's character runs a strict order, she simply turns the other way as her nuns grab at vague attempts as sexual gratification.
When the nuns become a pawn of The Church and The State, it is as if they've been not only granted "permission" to explore their repressed desires, the threat of torture looms if they don't take those "desires" to blasphemous limits. This is the portion of the film that remains controversial almost 45 years later. The scenes are disgusting. They are not erotic. They are upsetting. What's more — these scenes which have been labeled The Rape of Christ — can be found from time to time on YouTube. BFI has access to an inferior copy from whereabouts unknown. They were shown on British television documentary about the film in the late 80's. Compared to much of what we see now on cable, they are really barely eligible for an R rating much less an X or NC-17.
Faith and Religion Distorted
For Ambition, Greed, Power and Control…
The scenes that are the most disturbing are in the R-rated cut. Sister Jeannes' "exorcism" is actually rape and sexual torture. 40 some odd years later, these scenes are still hard to watch. Yet these scenes get an "R-Rating" when an "NC-17" would be more appropriate. Another controversial segment which would probably secure a "PG-13" rating today is actually one of the more blasphemous scenes in the movie. Sister Jeannes convulsive sexual fantasies of Father Granier as Christ are not graphic, but oddly disturbing. Filmed beautifully and erotically, Oliver Reed emerges as Christ descended from the Cruxifiction walking upon water to Sister Jeanne. As she kisses his bloodied feet and sweeps her hair over them. She begins to move up his body as if about to engage in felatio when the wind blows her vaguely nun-like wrapping off — her hump back is revealed and she screams in horror as everyone begins to mock and degrade her.
The Devils may not have been crafted with the precise and deftly serious style as The Exorcist, but Ken Russell's film is concerned with far more serious cultural issues than Evil vs. Good. In The Devils, Ken Russell is presenting ideas that still seem to shake people to their core. It is a satirical political commentary that works incredibly well. Fever-pitched and unapologetic it is an essential film.
And when one stands back from both of these films, The Exorcist is actually the more perverse and controversial film. Welcome to the schisms of Film Theory, History, Politics and Religion.
The tragically deformed Mother Superior fosters an unhealthy desire of Christ as a source of eroticism. And her priest, Father Granier, has taken the place of Christ in her mind. Enter Erotic Surrealism…
I have written about both Ken Russell, his work and this film in particular a number of times. I've also done some "covert investigation" in separating fact from fiction regarding Warner Brothers and possible prints of the original cut. If anyone is persistent, it a fan of film. There are a great number of Film Preservationists, Film Historians, devoted Ken Russell fans and Cinematic Curiosity Seekers who are still pushing to gain access to this film. Unless Warner Brothers is lying to us and they lost both of those prints, there is always a chance that Ken Russell's The Devils might one day gets its moment in on the screen.
American Rating System
Cardinal Richelieu
Catholic Icon
Corrupt Priest
Demonic Excorcism
Devils of Loudun
Digi-Beta Tape
Excecution
henry & June
Human Deformity
Human Torture
Institutionalized Repression
King Louis XIII
Max von Syndow
Mother Superior
NC-17 Rating
Nunnery
Political Cinema
Production Desgin
R-Rating
Self-Repression
Sexual Perversion
Sexual Torture
Sister Jeanne
Urban Gradier
Ursuline Convent
X-Rating
August 10th by Matty Stanfield in	Aldous Huxley Art Horror Banned Blasphemy British Film Institute Catholic History Censorship Cinematic Provocation Cinematography Controversial Film Cult Film David Watkin Demonic Possession Derek Jarman Exorcism Faith Film Art Film Criticsm Film Perservation Film Restoration Film Theory French History French King Louis XIII Glenda Jackson Hysteria Iconic Film Insanity Ken Russell Linda Blair Matty Stanfield MPAA Oliver Reed Owen Roizman Perversity Provocation Regligion Satanic Blasphemy The Devils The Devils of Loudun The Exorcist The Rating System Ursuline Nuns Vanessa Redgrave Warner Brothers William Friedkin