New Program Up!

SUMMER 07/08 CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAM

Cinematheque screenings are open to members and their guests. Membership is available at the door.
Trial Membership (1 month/4 screenings/1 guest) $18/$15
Quarterly Membership (12 screenings/3 guests) $36/$32
Annual Membership (52 screenings/12 guests) $85/$75
Saturdays commence at 12 noon sharp.
Mondays commence at 6:30pm sharp.
Mailing list and Enquiries: brettgarten@iprimus.com.au


Sat. 22/12 Only FORCE OF EVIL

Force of Evil USA/1948/79mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS
Dir: Abraham Polonsky.

John Garfield stars in this poetic and gritty film noir about the corruption of a basically decent lawyer. The script, with dialogue and narration often written in street-wise blank verse, equates racketeering with capitalism. Edward Hopper's urban landscapes provided a conscious model for the images. Director Polonsky was later blacklisted for the film's political implications.
Plus Flash Gordon serial.

Mon. 24/12 NO SCREENING – MERRY XMAS

Sat. 29/12 & Mon. 31/12 NO SCREENING – HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sat. 5/1 & 7/1 NO SCREENING - XMAS HOLIDAY

Sat. 12/1 & Mon. 14/1 NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Nightmare Alley USA/1947/111mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Edmund Goulding.

Tyrone Powers, cast against type, stars as a small-time carnival operator who sets himself up as a spiritualist exploiting wealthy clients.
“An unforgettable gallery of grotesques.” Gary Morris, Bright Lights Film Journal
Excitingly tawdry… a backstage excursion through the showbiz lower depths.” J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Sat. 19/1 GRINDHOUSE CLASSICS: MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH

Massacre at Central High USA/1976/87mins/Colour/16mm/HP Dir: Renee Daalder. An early forerunner to the teen slasher genre of the 1980s, this cult gem mixes high school bullying, revolutionary politics and revenge into a ham-fisted political allegory.
“Rises to some interesting levels of political metaphor” SF/Fantasy Film Review
Plus Flash Gordon serial.

Mon. 21/1 Only GRINDHOUSE CLASSICS: WOMAN FROM DEEP RIVER

Woman from Deep River Italy-Spain/1981/93mins/Colour/16mm/ HP Dir: Umberto Lenzi. A naïve anthropology student travels to the Amazon to research her thesis that cannibalism is an “invention of colonialism.” There she meets a psychotic cocaine smuggler who has enraged the native tribes of the region. The ensuing carnage proves her thesis horribly incorrect. Also known as Cannibal Ferox.
From the trailer: “The following feature is one of the most violent films ever made. There are at least two dozen scenes of barbaric torture and sadistic cruelty graphically shown. If the presentation of disgusting and repulsive subject matter upsets you, please do not view this film.”
“It's truly heinous, atrocious and cruel, and that's what makes it a gore classic.” Dan Taylor, Exploitation Retrospect.
Plus Flash Gordon serial.

Note: This is a New Zealand fanboy discussing his cannibal movie collection. Hilarious, but scary!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMr_GjjIsNI

Sat. 26/1 Only GRINDHOUSE CLASSICS: THE MUTATIONS

The Mutations UK/1974/85mins/Colour/16mm/AM Dir: Jack Cardiff. A freak show operator, played by a pre-Dr Who Tom Baker, teams up with a mad biology professor (Donald Pleasance) to produce plant/human hybrids for his carnival operation. Like its progenitor, Todd Browning’s 1932 Freaks, the film uses real carnival performers in supporting roles.
“A minestrone of madness.” www.imdb.com
Plus Flash Gordon serial

Mon. 28/1 Only GRINDHOUSE CLASSICS: INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN

Incredible Melting Man USA/1977/84mins/Colour/16mm/AM Dir: William Sachs. An astronaut is exposed to cosmic radiation on an ill-fated mission to Saturn and once back on earth begins to slowly melt away in this gory pastiche of 1950s science fiction films.
“A timeless drive-in classic.” www.imdb.com
“Surprisingly, the film is strongest when making moral comments.” Variety
Plus Flash Gordon serial.


Sat. 2/2 & Mon. 4/2 PORTRAIT OF JENNIE

Portrait of Jennie
USA/1948/82mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: William Dieterle. A struggling artist meets a strangely ethereal girl in Central Park and finds himself falling in love. But this is no ordinary relationship - it is a love that transcends time realised in a supreme example of studio-created atmosphere. For surrealists like Andre Breton and Luis Bunuel, Portrait of Jennie, along with Peter Ibbetson (screening 9/2 & 11/2), constitute commercial cinema's refusal of the idea that the world of dreams and the world of reality are quite separate. A major flop at the time of its release, this ahead-of-its-time David O. Selznick production, starring Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish, has since become recognised as a landmark in classical Hollywood cinema.
“A haunting evocation of one man's pained artistic process.” Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Plus Flash Gordon serial.

Sat. 9/2 & Mon. 11/2 PETER IBBETSON

Peter Ibbetson USA/1935/85mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Henry Hathaway. Childhood sweethearts meet again as adults, recognising each other from a dream both of them have had. Peter is imprisoned for life after killing Mary's husband in self defence but they continue to meet in their dreams. Praised by surrealists like Breton and Kyrou as 'a triumph of surrealist thought'. Stars Gary Cooper, Ann Harding and Ida Lupino.
“Hailed by André Breton as the cinematic embodiment of their magnificent obsession with l’amour fou - the love that transcends all known obstacles.” Time Out
“Even a steadfastly literal director like Hathaway can’t diffuse its air of occult weirdness.” Channel Four

Surrealism USA/1972/24 mins/Colour/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Egons Tomsons. Discusses the forerunners of the Surrealist movement and focuses on the works of Ernst, Klee, Miro, Tanguy, Magritte and Dali to explain the surrealist condition described in the 1920s as irrational and hysterical. Related painters of the fantastic and irrational who appeared later are also discussed.

Sat. 16/2 & Mon. 18/2 CLASSIC COMEDY

Would-be Juggler France/1908/6mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Max Linder. Before Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, French comedian Max Linder was the king of silent film comedy. In this film, a drunken theatregoer is ejected and attempts to emulate the juggler's art with disastrous results.

Pedicure France/1910/12mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Max Linder. In one of his best early shorts, Linder impersonates a chiropodist.

One Week USA/1921/20mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Buster Keaton. One of the first two reelers Keaton made after setting up his own production company, this film reveals the darker side of Keaton's comedy as a newly-wed couple court disaster when they build their own house.

Never Weaken USA/1921/19mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Fred Newmeyer. In Harold Lloyd's last short film, before he embarked on the production of features, Harold devises a scheme to help out an osteopath who is short of patients to save the job of the doctor's receptionist. When he overhears another man tell the receptionist that he will marry her, Harold decides to commit suicide, but ends up suspended on girders hundreds of feet above the street.

Big Business USA/1929/20mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: James W. Horne. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are Christmas tree salesmen in July. Their attempt to sell a tree results in escalating mayhem. It has claims to be the funniest two reels of film ever made.

You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man USA/1939/9mins/B&W/16mm/ NFVLS Dir: George Marshall. Two excerpts from this W.C. Fields comedy classic.

Road Hog USA/1932/9mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Ernst Lubitsch. A segment from the Paramount anthology film, If I Had a Million, starring W.C. Fields and Charles Laughton. A victim of road rage, Fields inherits a million dollars, attains a fleet of cars, and seeks revenge on rude motorists.

The Three Stooges: 3 Dumb Clucks USA/1937/20mins/B&W/ 16mm/NFVLS Dir: Del Lord. The Three Stooges at their best were skilled exponents of low comedy - slapstick and violence - firmly based in vaudeville routines. In this short the boys' father wants to leave the mother for a gold-digging blonde. Curly plays a dual role as father and himself.

Still from Never Weaken

Sat. 23/2 & Mon. 25/2 PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Possibly the greatest individual influence on the classical Hollywood film, William Cameron Menzies created the role of the Production Designer, and introduced the practice of storyboarding. Menzies dominated Gone with the Wind, Kings Row, Invaders from Mars and both versions of The Thief of Baghdad. On the hundred films he designed and the dozen he directed, Menzies worked with Douglas Fairbanks, Valentino, Gary Cooper, D.W. Griffith, Alfred Hitchcock and Mike Todd. Even so, his name is less remembered today than contemporaries like Alfred Newman, Gregg Toland or Slavko Vorkapich. Film historian and maker Barrie Pattison has made a lifetime's study of Menzies and will comment on his major works, drawings and screen an extensive selection of his forgotten short experimental films.

Sat. 1/3 & Mon. 3/3 KINGS ROW

Kings Row USA/1940/127mins/B&W/16mm/NFVLS Dir: Sam Wood. One of the most accomplished films of the “Golden Years of Hollywood," Kings Row is the peak achievement of William Cameron Menzies eight film collaboration with director Sam Wood and shows their skills impeccably integrated with cameraman James Wong Howe and musician Erich Wolfgang Korngold, in a production from the unit that went on to make Casablanca. The film's depiction of small town USA, rotten at it's core, was a shock in WW2 America. Ronald ("Where's the rest of me?") Reagan and Anne Sheridan head up a legendary cast that includes Judith Anderson, Claude Rains, Betty Field and Marie Ouspenskaya. Introduction by film historian Barrie Pattison will relate the film to the designer's ideas and outlook.

Sat. 8/3 & Mon. 10/3 ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES

Angels with Dirty Faces USA/1938/97mins/B&W/35mm/CD Dir: Michael Curtiz. Two boys from the New York slums go down different paths after attempting to break into a boxcar. Rocky (James Cagney), who is caught and sent to reform school, goes on to become a major local gangster, while Jerry (Pat O’Brien) goes on to become a priest involved in trying to prevent youngsters from becoming criminals. Upon his release from prison, Rocky returns to his old neighbourhood, where a gang of streetwise teenagers (The Dead End Kids) are torn between their admiration for Rocky and their respect for Jerry. Humphrey Bogart has a supporting role as a crooked lawyer who forces Rocky back into a life of crime.
“Cagney really struts his stuff in this one.” www.imdb.com


Sat. 15/3 & Mon. 17/3 TONIGHT, LET’S ALL MAKE LOVE IN LONDON

Wholly Communion UK/1965/B&W/35mins/16mm Dir: Peter Whitehead. A modern poetry reading at the Royal Albert Hall, London degenerates into an anarchic mess. Includes Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Tonight, Let’s all Make Love in London UK/1967/69mins/Colour/ 16mm Dir: peter Whitehead. Whitehead's "pop concerto for film" features the music of Pink Floyd, and examines various aspects of London in the swinging sixties. Interviews include Vanessa Redgrave, Mick Jagger, Julie Christie, Michael Caine and painter David Hockney.
“Both the quintessential Swingin' London document and a dark vision of a city at war with itself.” Paul Cronin, Sight and Sound

The Chauvel Cinematheque gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the National Film and Video Lending Service, the National Film & Sound Archive, the Australian Film Commission, and Barrie Pattison in the creation of this program.

Print Sources: NFVLS – National film & Video Lending Service / HP – Hygienic Pictures / AM – Amalgamated Movies / CD – Chapel Distribution

Program Notes for Barrie Pattison's Trash Compactor & Zombie Brigade

Above: Barrie contemplating his imminent takeover of the universe? No, it's Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon serials.

TRASH AND TERROR STRIKES BACK!

The negative of Murnau's Nosferatu was burned. Todd Browning's Freaks was banned for thirty years. His promoters disguised the films that made Paul Naschy the most widely shown film maker of Spain's Franco years. The survival and the potency of the trash film represent a phenomenon in itself. Some determined movie watchers never see anything else.



They walk the streets among us!

Barrie Pattison, author of "The Seal of Dracula" and contributor to specialist magazines, including Fatal Visions and Shock Express, has spent an unhealthy amount of time peering at cinema of the extreme, in flea pits and Schlock festivals round the world. In an attempt to raise the level of sensitivity among us all, he is presenting his TRASH COMPACTOR event at Paddington Town Hall's Chauvel Cinematheque, on Saturday November the 17th at 12 noon, as a lead-in to the screening of his unreleased feature THE ZOMBIE BRIGADE FROM LIZARD GULLY showing at 6:30 the following Monday, November the 19th.


Above: Still from Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

Trash Compactor shuffles German Expressionism, Randolph Scott, Flash Gordon, Orson Welles, Santo the Man in the Mask of Silver and other rich and strange experiences from down the years and across the planet, in original and often rare film prints - some the only copies in the hemisphere.


Still from Santo Vs the Mummies of Guanajuato.

The Zombie Brigade (from Lizard Gully) was just about the last feature film to be made under the tax concessions, which terrified the powerful Australian
Film Funding bureaucracy by showing that more films were being made on tax breaks - and they could always turn out like The Zombie Brigade from Lizard Gully.


Above: Barrie gets a hand directing Zombie Brigade.


This one surfaced to meet the demand for trashy entertainment that had been generated by the spread of multiplexes. It continues to be seen round the globe, though it has never had a Sydney release.



The Zombie Brigade was the first film of star John Moore Moore (Pitch Black, The X Files) who became the leading young black Australian actor of his generation. Hero Moore squires Kihm Lam through a battle with the undead of three wars, precipitated by setting up a land deal that sells off the site of a Vietnam memorial for Japanese developer Adam A. Wong's cartoon character theme park. Can the survivors shelter in their Leagues Club during the long night the Risen War Dead march through the Australian one time home, which has turned its back on the values that they died defending? Thrill to a Town Torn by Terror!



ENQUIRIES Phone 9211 6514


Left: Still from Zombie Brigade

Posters for Toby Zoates' Thief of Sydney and Virgin Beasts

Here are some past fliers Toby created for his films The Thief of Sydney and Virgin Beasts. See the films themselves, and hear Toby talk about their production (and his amazing life) this week at Cinematheque. Make sure you click on the link at the top right of this page to Toby's blog, Toby the Punk Poofy Cat - it will blow your mind!

Click on the pics to enlarge.

Another View of the New Program

Here is another way of looking at the new program. Click on the pic to enlarge.
Nifty eh?

A Response to The Guru by Pia Santaklaus

29 Octotal 2007.

Hey Brett...

Permit a few words about tonight’s Cinemateque feature...

‘SAI BABA’ feature didn’t eventuate; never mind. It’s fantastic how the reel just exploded all over the place and film flew everywhere just before the session....
“Imagine all the people”...you know, the vindicated ones who always suspected Sai Baba was a fraudster...can you hear them singing John Lennon’s words loudly? “Instant Karma’s gonna get you”

Now to another suspected fraudster...The Guru!!!

I was most impressed to discover that tonight’s main feature THE GURU (1969) was an early Merchant-Ivory effort.

Merchant-Ivory are obvious Anglophiles with deep roots in India, successfully blending both worlds evenly...we only have to look at the title of their 1965 film to see that... ‘SHAKESPEARE WALLAH!!!

A long-standing gay couple, I suspect Merchant-Ivory have always been attracted to powerful, regal, dandy men [eg MAURICE (1987)].

Fashionable London with its famous/infamous characters during the swinging sixties must have held a deep fascination for Merchant-Ivory as their next project after ‘SHAKESPEARE WALLAH was to be set in trendy London. Called ‘A LOVELY WORLD’ (unfortunately shelved), it would follow the London adventures of a young lady called Lizzie Buckingham (An obvious play on words on Queen Elizabeth of Buckingham palace).

I would hazard a guess and say that Merchant-Ivory’s research and work for A LOVELY WORLD probably led them to wonderful London connections and tales of the truly rich, young and famous, further fixating them on the extrovert colours, sounds and wild parties [years later they even made THE WILD PARTY (1975)].

Merchant –Ivory surely were impressed by the rich, young, handsome dandies strutting around London wearing Carnaby Street fashions; none more famous, fashionable or flamboyant than the real-life blonde megastar and Rolling Stone, Brian Jones. Of all the Stones, Brian Jones was also the greatest seeker of the exotic and traveler to the exotic…even his London pad was decorated in the latest exotic drapery.

Brian Jones too was the Rolling Stone who played the sitar as George Harrison was The Beatle who played the sitar. I imagine that Merchant-Ivory were tickled pink that 2 such famous and influential men were bringing Indian culture to the Western masses.

As such, I think (and may be the first to say so), that THE GURU is more than just a George Harrison parody…Merchant-Ivory created the Tom Pickle character as a composite of BOTH George Harrison AND Brian Jones.

Yes, the film definitely has solid roots in the character of George Harrison. An obvious clue is one line in the film where a character at a party yells: “It’s all too much”. This reference is to an actual 1968 George Harrison song called “It’s All Too Much”, but there are many references to Brian Jones as well.

George Harrison was not so well known for his flamboyant fashion sense.
When Michael York’s character lands in India (clothes designed by Carnaby Street) and again as he leaves India, he is dressed in a stunning, slick, all-white outfit, which by the way, Brian Jones had already made one of his trademark looks by that stage.

Michael York played ‘Tom Pickle’ perfectly:
Soft-spoken, working-class English (like George Harrison)
Long-haired, blonde (like Brian Jones)
Down to earth (like George Harrison)
Fashion conscious peacock (like Brian Jones)

Tom Pickle’s girl friend ‘Jenny’ was possibly a composite of the quiet and sweet seeker Pattie Boyd and the more hard-faced, long-haired temptress Anita Pallenberg. Both blondes with heavy make-up…they were George Harrison and Brian Jones’s companions on their real life trips to the exotics. (I wonder if Merchant-Ivory would ever ‘fess up’)

[Note: Patty Boyd’s real-life sister was called ‘Jenny’ and actually went to India with The Beatles in 68. She was so delightful and willing to be enlightened that Donovan wrote a song about her called JENNIFER JUNIPER].

The word ‘pickle’ is a good choice of surname for Merchant-Ivory’s Rockstar from the West. Pickles and Chutneys originated in India but were very popular in hip London (the flavour of the month at most happening restaurants), where The Beatles had recently released their sensational Sgt Peppers album (1967). On that album, George Harrison included his long and wonderful sitar-drenched song-piece called ‘WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU’. Had the English finally become Indian? Did Merchant-Ivory see George Harrison as a ‘Pickled Pepper’? HaHaHa.

At that very moment, the world’s 2 most famous bands (The Beatles & The Rolling Stones) had lead guitarists who also sported sitars. George Harrison & Brian Jones both publicly dabbled in Eastern sounds and showed off their recently acquired rudimentary sitar skills.

Merchant-Ivory, along with the rest of the world had learnt that The Beatles had spent time in India in early 1968, only evacuating after they felt disillusioned and suspected they’d been had by their so called ‘guru’ The Maharishi... John Lennon wrote a song about it called SEXY SADIE where he admits the Maharishi “made a fool of everyone” and pointed the finger; “You’ll get yours yet”.

One story unfolds that the Beatles’ ‘guru’, The Maharishi tried to seduce the waif-like Mia Farrow with favours, flavours and sexual advances. Hypocritically, the Maharishi showed double standards while secretly offering Mia Farrow succulent mangos where other ashram guests received no such flavours.

Interestingly and along similar lines, Tom Pickle finally decides to leave India in a hurry after witnessing his sitar ‘guru’ being sexually aggressive and predatory.

Also interesting in The GURU is the sitar teacher’s double standards. On the one hand he admonishes Tom Pickle for running about and partying when he should stay put and focused on music practice and yet when Tom Pickle’s manager offers to fly the sitar teacher to London, the teacher can barely contain himself for the possibilities and excitement of the new. Tom Pickle quashed that idea and the ‘guru’ felt crushed.

I really enjoyed the simple but deep storyline of THE GURU. It pressed on so many human weaknesses; Jealousy, vanity, animosity, fear and yearning. The sitar teacher had many wives all jealous of each other, while he secretly envied and longed for Tom Pickle’s lifestyle, fame and money.

Tom Pickle’s journey in THE GURU is quite similar to Dorothy’s journey in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Both landed in a strange, exotic, puzzling land ruled by a weak, insecure thundering despot who can sometimes be seen to do wonders. There are witches, spells, potions and advice along the way, passing over and through colouful landscapes.

Wiser and wearier, the protagonist will leave this strange place at the close of the story because in the end, ‘There’s no place like home”. It seems to suggest that people fit only where they belong and perhaps should stay put.

Check out how embarrassing the young white dropout Westerners look as they desperately attempt to assimilate themselves into their perceived ideals of Indian culture and how equally embarrassing the envious Indians longing to embrace the young, hip London drug scene n’ style?
Unfathomable laughable stretches..

In THE GURU, the East and the West look towards each other for advice and enlightenment. Unfortunately, every potential guru is rendered unworthy to be an expert spiritual mentor as mostly weaknesses shine through. No one could really be a true Guru with their flawed humanity so exposed.

Tom Pickle was adored by thousands of screaming fans but was somehow still seeking and unfocused.

The sweet character of young Jenny, so admired by the Indian wives was gullible and foolish to follow the sitar teacher with blind obedience. Finally, a bout of food poisoning helped her realize this world was not her world.

The sitar teacher was a first class musician, yet too often serious, envious and weak.

The sitar teacher’s own old man ‘guru’ exposed weaknesses when he too revealed dependencies craving sweets and admitting he couldn’t do without his hookah and milk.

A very fine effort! Good choice of movie. Thanks Brett.
Pia Santaklaus

Summer 07 Program

SUMMER CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAM
Cinematheque screenings are open to members and their guests.

Membership is available at the door.
Trial Membership (1 month/4 screenings/1 guest) $18/$15
3 Month Membership (12 screenings/3 guests) $36/$32
Annual Membership (52 screenings/12 guests) $85/$75

PLEASE NOTE: Screening times have changed -
Saturdays now commence at 12 noon sharp.
Mondays commence at 6:30 sharp.

Mailing list and Enquiries: brettgarten@iprimus.com.au

Website: http://www.chauvelcinema.net.au/

Sat. 3/11 & Mon. 5/11 DIRECTOR’S CHAIR - TOBY ZOATES

Meet Toby Zoates, misunderstood genius of Australian animated film, at this special screening, followed by a Q&A session.

The Thief of Sydney Australia/1984/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Toby Zoates. This science fiction combination of live action and animation tells of an impoverished young man who dreams/ fantasises/hallucinates about a post-holocaust Sydney of the future.

Virgin Beasts Australia/1992/Colour/16mm Dir: Toby Zoates. A science fiction musical burlesque about an ageing arms dealer, described by the filmmaker as, “A grungy ‘agit-prop’ folk-tale of the late 20th Century, Beauty meets the Beast at the Masque of the Red Death, on a Quest to win Landrights for Gay Whales. Winner of Best Trash Film at the 1996 1st. International Trash Film Festival, Freakzone, Lille, France. Cast includes Michelle Grannieri, Mathew Cooke, Simon Reptile, Mark Easton, Goose Presley, Tex Perkins and Toby Zoates. Music by Box the Jesuit, Candy Harlots, Paul Vassalos, Dorian Dowse, Tex Perkins and Toby Zoates.
“Whacked out.” http://www.imdb.com/

Sat. 10/11 & Mon. 12/11 SECRET LIFE OF PUPPETS

A program of animated puppet films by three masters of the form: George Pal, Ladislav Starewicz and the Brothers Quay.

Big Broadcast USA/1938/5mins/B&W/16mm Dir: George Pal. A "radio revue" with puppets performing three musical numbers.

Puppet Love France/1930/20mins/B&W16mm Dir: Ladislaw Starewicz. Tells the story of a puppet's adventures as loyalty drives him to return to his original owner. Combines puppet animation with live action footage. “Endlessly inventive.” http://www.imdb.com/

Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies UK/1988/15mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Brothers Quay. A dreamlike trip into the Quays' surreal world of unusual architectural forms, living skulls, psychedelic patterns and robots using tools and other found objects.

The Voice of the Nightingale France/1923/9mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Ladislaw Starewicz. A nightingale captured by a little girl sings to her while she sleeps of his urgent search for his lost mate.
“Pure joy.” http://www.imdb.com/

Punch & Judy: Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy UK/1980/ 49mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Keith Griffiths, Timothy Quay, Stephen Quay, Larry Sider. A cultural history of Punch and Judy and a documentary homage to Giovanni Piccini, probably the greatest Punchman to have lived.

Sat. 17/11 Only TRASH COMPACTOR

By popular demand, Australia’s leading film historian, Barrie Pattison, returns with a manic parade of the hyper weird movies that twisted his outlook, including excerpts from German Expressionist horror movies, Randolph Scott Westerns, Flash Gordon, Orson Welles, and Mexican wrestler, Santo, and other rich and strange experiences from down the years and across the planet, in original and often rare film prints – some the only copies in the hemisphere.

Mon. 19/11 Only DIRECTOR’S CHAIR – BARRIE PATTISON

Following up from Saturday, see the results of Barrie’s over-exposure to cinema shonk, with this rare screening of his unreleased feature, Zombie Brigade from Lizard Gully, followed by a Q&A session with Barrie.

Zombie Brigade Australia/1986/92mins/Colour/35mm Dir: Barrie Pattison. A Vietnam War Memorial is dynamited to make way for a Japanese ‘Robot Man’ theme park, unleashing a plague of vampiric zombies in a small West Australian town. A horror spoof satirising Australia’s veneration for its war dead.
“One of the dumbest horror flicks I have ever seen.” http://www.imdb.com/

Sat. 24/11 & Mon. 26/11 SCARE FILMS

Blurring the boundaries between propaganda and education, scare films use shock tactics to affect social, political and behavioural changes. NOTE: This program contains graphic scenes.

My Japan USA/1945/16mins/B&W/16mm. Complex and disturbing anti-Japanese propaganda film produced to spur the sale of U.S. war bonds. The film takes the form of a mock travelogue of Japan, presented by an impersonated Japanese narrator speaking in a crude accent. NOTE: Explicit racism and war violence.
“Hilarious, ghastly, violent, racist, and historically inaccurate.” www.archives.org
“One of the most unusual documentary films ever made” http://www.archives.org/

Mechanized Death USA/1961/27mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Dick Wayman. This "safety" film was a consequence of a dramatic increase in road fatalities during the late 50's and early 60's. This film was designed only to shock and does this with back to back, real-life footage of roadside carnage. There is no film-making style here, no plot, no drama, no clever editing, just grainy handheld footage of accident scenes and incessant, droning, judgmental narration.
NOTE: Some scenes may disturb. Contains road accident footage.

Know Your Children Australia/1951/20mins/B&W/16mm Dir: John Martin-Jones. A study of the causes of juvenile delinquency.

Duck and Cover USA/1952/10mins/B&W/16mm. A film made to inform children of protective measures to be taken in the event of atomic attack.

Hospitals Don’t Burn Down Australia/1977/24mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Brian Trenchard Smith. From the director of The Man from Hong Kong comes this disturbingly realistic film about a fire in a high-rise hospital.

Hands Off Australia/1974/12mins/Colour/16mm. A film made for children about the dangers of playing with unexploded ammunition.

Sat. 1/12 Only CANADIAN SHORT FILM RETROSPECTIVE

Neighbours Canada/1952/8mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Norman McLaren. A parable about two neighbours who come to blows over the possession of a flower growing on the boundary of their gardens. Made in response to the outbreak of the Korean War.

End of Summer Canada/1964/27mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Michel Brault. Candid observations of a group of French Canadian teenagers in holiday activities, illustrating their natural behaviour and conversations reflecting their views on various subjects.

Freefall Canada/1964/9mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Arthur Lipsett. A collage of 'found' images on the theme of 'mankind's fall from grace into banality'.

Devils Toy Canada/1966/15mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Claude Jutra. Dedicated 'to all victims of intolerance' this is a gently satirical look at the victimisation of skateboard riders.

The Huntsman Canada/1972/16mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Doug Jackson. A 10-year-old boy ferrets out golf balls from the rough, then sells his findings to passing golfers.

If You Love this Planet Canada/1982/26mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Terri Nash. Dr. Helen Caldicott presents a lecture on the medical effects of nuclear war.


Still from Neighbours.

Mon. 3/12 Only CANADIAN ANIMATION RETROSPECTIVE

Chants Populaires: En Passant Canada/1943/3mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Alexandre Alexeieff & Claire Parker. A French Canadian folk song animated using pinboard techniques.

Chants Populaires: C'est L'aviron Canada/1944/3mins/B&W/ 16mm Dir: Norman McLaren. A traditional French Canadian folk song animated using cut-outs and still pictures.

Walking Canada/1968/5mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Ryan Larkin. An Oscar nominated film study of the various ways of walking.

Bambi Meets Godzilla Canada/1969/2mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Marv Newland. A spoof of film credits with an unexpected twist.

Illusion? Canada/1975/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Frederic Back. In the midst of a friendly country scene, children are busy playing, surrounded by familiar animals. There is gaiety, harmony, discovery, accompanied by laughter and bird song. But a strange magician enters the scene and their world is turned into a different place.

La Rue (The Street) Canada/1976/10mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Caroline Leaf. An innovative film about a grandmother whose lingering death is suffered impatiently by her Jewish family.

Histoire de Perles (The Bead Game) Canada/1977/5mins/Colour/ 16mm Dir: Ishu Patel. Coloured beads are animated to depict the evolution of combat and weaponry culminating in the threat of nuclear warfare. “Absolutely mesmerizing.” http://www.imdb.com/

Le Chateau de Sable (The Sand Castle) Canada/1977/13mins/ Colour/16mm dir: Co Hoedeman. Sand creatures build an elaborate sandcastle in this Oscar winning animated short.

The Seigneury Canada/1978/3mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Janice Brown
A history of the Hotel Chateau Montebello.

Special Delivery Canada/1978/7mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Weldon, Eunice Macaulay. A love triangle involving a nagging wife, her forgetful husband and the postman. Oscar winning animation.

Log Drivers Waltz Canada/1979/3mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Weldon. The Log Driver's Waltz, based on the song by Wade Hensworth, shows birling - the art of driving logs.

Crac Canada/1981/15mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Frederic Back. Oscar winning story of a rocking chair from tree trunk to old age accompanied by French Canadian folk music.

Cat Came Back Canada/1988/7mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Richard Condie, Cordell Baker. Oscar nominated story of a man who is plagued by the persistent return of a cat. “Full of dark humour.” http://www.imdb.com/

Paradise Canada/1984/16mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Ishu Patel.
A blackbird, through the window of a golden palace, covets the magnificent plumage of the bird performing for the emperor.


Still from Paradise

Sat. 8/12 & Mon 10/12 PSYCHO CELLULOID

A program of films exploring the world of psychology.

Brain and Behaviour USA/1962/29mins/B&W/16mm. Demonstrates the way in which electrical activity in the brain gives us information about man's behaviour.

Over-Dependency Canada/1949/32mins/B&White/16mm Dir: Robert Anderson. A case study of a young man whose life is crippled by behaviour patterns carried from his too-dependent childhood. The third film in the National Film Board of Canada’s Mental Mechanisms series notable for their psychological realism.

Emotional Development USA/1973/18mins/Color/16mm Dir: Barbara Jampel. Examines the theory that aggression, in both children and adults, is a behaviour that is learned in a social context. Narrated by Leslie Nielsen.

Sigmund Freud's Dora: A Case of Mistaken Identity USA/1979/ 34mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Anthony McCall, Claire Pajaczkowska, Andrew Tyndall, & Jane Weinstock. A critique of the representation of women in psychoanalytic discourse is linked, in the form of an 'essay', with modes of representation of women's sexuality in the visual media. NOTE: Contains sexually explicit material.

Sat. 15/12 & Mon. 17/12 EARLY COMPUTER ANIMATION

From early experiments in abstract art to the success of Pixar, this program charts the development of the art of computer animation.

Poem Field (No. 1): A Study in Computer Graphics USA/1967/ 4mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Stan VanDerBeek & Ken Knowlton. Pioneering computer animation explores variations of abstract geometric forms and words generated on an IBM 7094 computer.

Around Perception Canada/1968/17mins/Colour/ Dir: Pierre Hebert. An experiment in the use of computers to animate images on film. The result is a dazzling vibration of geometric forms in vivid colour.

Experiments in Motion Graphics USA/1968/13mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Whitney. Whitney explains some of the processes involved in programming and animating his computer-made abstract films.

Binary Bit Patterns USA/1969/3mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Michael Whitney.
Kaleidescopic computer-made film. Optically printed from images generated on a digital computer, the film is a delightful burst of vibrant colour, movement and sound.

White Hole Japan/1969/7mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Toshio Matsumoto. Described by the filmmaker as "a cosmic hallucination spun by the computer-controlled image synthesizer, in which you will pass through the brilliant tunnels and the mystic prospects." Music by Joji Yuasa.

Matrix III USA/1970/11mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Whitney. Computer generated forms evolve, merge and subdivide on a black background. Music by Terry Riley.

La Faim (Hunger) Canada/1974/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Peter Foldes. Oscar nominated satire of self-indulgence in a hungry world. Music by Pierre Brault. “Not easily forgotten.” http://www.imdb.com/

Arabesque USA/1976/7mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Whitney. The geometry of Islamic art is translated into computer graphics.

Two Space USA/1979/8mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Larry Cuba. Twelve two dimensional patterns set upon a basic figure produce illusions of figure ground reversal and after-images of colour accompanied by gamelan music.

Vol de Reve (Dream Flight) Canada/1982/13mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Philippe Bergeron, Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, Daniel Thalmann. An extraterrestrial creature dreams of new horizons, flies to Earth and discovers Paris and New York.

Luxo Jr USA/1986/2mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Lasseter. Pixar’s first film, featuring father and son Luxo lamps. Oscar nominated.

Red's Dream USA/1987/4mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Lasseter. A Pixar film that speculates on what unicycles might dream about on rainy nights.

Tin Toy USA/1988/5mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Lasseter. Pixar’s Oscar winning tale of a prickly relationship between a rambunctious diapered baby and musical clockwork toy.

Knickknack USA/1989/4mins/Colour/16mm Dir: John Lasseter. A snowman in a glass bubble is tempted by a toy beach woman across the shelf. He attempts a desperate escape from his confinement.

The Chauvel Cinematheque gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the National Film and Video Lending Service, the National Film & Sound Archive, the Australian Film Commission, Barrie Pattison and Toby Zoates in the creation of this program.

New Session Times start this week

Starting November 3, 2007, the new session times are:

Saturdays - 12 noon sharp

Mondays - 6:30 pm sharp

Please take note.

Thanks.

Czech Retrospective details

Here are the details for the upcoming Czech retrospective. Please note that some of the dates and times have changed since the original calendar was printed. These dates are final.

Click to enlarge the image below.

Press Release for Barrie Pattison's History of the Chinese Kung Fu Film

CROUCHING FILM FREAK - SLEEPING CRITIC.

For a while there, Chinese language(s) cinema was the number two film industry on the planet. Jackie Chan was the most popular actor in history and it was easier to see him in down town Toronto, Melbourne or Sydney than it was to see Clint Eastwood or Mel Gibson. This is only the visible tip of activity, which has continued over a century and tells us alot about China, the movies and even ourselves.

Beginning in the silent period, we find the wu zia pian swashbucklers with their roots in Chinese Opera. As the material develops from mainland small screen black and white to the 'scope, colour and stereo Hong Kong spectaculars, they take on the shades of Hollywood epics, Japanese Samurai movies and Italian westerns. Some elements remain constant and others are added in. The acrobat heroes of the opera schools replace actors going through the motions and action stars learn from the martial artists. The sun hangs low in the purple studio sky, where the fields are sewn with paper flowers. Blood and sweat shine on perfect bodies, unaffected by gravity. The frame fills with saffron robed Shaolin monks, hermaphrodite cannibals, villains with fifty foot legs, heroes who balance sword points on lily pads and master martial artists whose skill derives from drinking the blood of venomous serpents.

This was all a bit much for critics who thought in terms of Pearl Buck, Chairman Mao and Charlie Chan and they never did catch up. However Kung fu movies were made around the world in imitation. Hollywood went on to assimilate Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, John Woo, Jet & Gong Lee. When one of his routines turned up in a Steven Seagal movie, action star Sammo Hung commented ruefully, "We steal from them. They steal from us." Now, since the end of the colonial period, the central government has made it their business to reclaim the martial arts spectacular. The success of Crouching Tiger... sits badly with them. What luck have they had?


Film maker and writer Barrie Pattison has done programs for the London NFT and the Paris Cinematheque. He studied the Chinese film phenomenon over decades, met many of the key figures of the classic period and has put together a program drawing on often rare material from official and private sources.

The screenings at Paddington Town Hall'sChauvel Cinema on Saturday October 20th at 1:00 pm and Monday 22 at 7:00 pm are unique opportunities to assess this material and decide what weight to give it's admirers.

Captions:

Love on a Foggy Liver - NY Chinatown - photo BrettRixon.

Jackie Chan gives stick - Liu Chia-liang's 1994 Drunken Master II.

Fifties martial arts action.

Hey that hurt! Raymond Liu's 1982 The Crane Fighter.

Fun in a Chinese movie - Chu Yuan's 1972 Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan.

Enquiries phone 02 9211 6514,

email:mozjoukine@yahoo.com.au

Under the Beds: A Response to the War Hot and Cold Program by Barrie Pattison

UNDER THE BEDS.

Well I wasn't around when Coldicutt and Mathews were crossing swords with ASIO in the forties but I was there for the Great Red Scares of the 1950s.

Up to that point, the film people had all got along quite nicely in a we-all-did-in-Hitler -together atmosphere. The church groups ran BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN and the leftists put on MONSIEUR VINCENT - on the principle that they were works of art. They'd go to one another's Xmas parties.

The problem was that everyone showed the same forty odd films. I kept on seeing John Huston's WEWERE STRANGERS, BERLIN OLYMPICS, SPANISH EARTH or BACK OF BEYOND. The D.of I.'s THE QUEEN IN AUSTRALIA got a run because it was somuch nicer than the (American owned) Movietone version. The British Film Institute publications and Penguin Film Review were Holy Writ, even though a lot of their revered material - include nearly all Luchino Visconti or Luis Buñuel - hadn't been aired here. Discussions centred on whether Eisenstein or Pudovkin was the true artist.

This was a bad fit with my own experience of cinema, derived from Newtown Majestic, The Capitol and judicious use of the kiddie matinees which hadprovided me with NANOOK OF THE NORTH, De Mille's CRUSADES, the Fleischer Brothers and METROPOLIS. To these the Savoy added Jean Cocteau and Martine Carole.

The Americans, with their veneration of David WarkGriffith and 1939 Hollywood, seemed a much better model. I would later find that the French were delighting in the same Delmer Daves and Frank Tashlin movies I was.

I was as curious as the next man about the leftist material - the Russian SADKO, the American NATIVE LAND and SALT OF THE EARTH, the Chinese BUTTERFLY LOVERS on their new colour stock that was near impossible to splice. To this day I follow the career of Czechoslovakia's Otaka Vavra with some fascination. However my interest quickened when JohnHoward Reid retaliated, showing a near complete Elia Kazan retrospective.

The big score seemed to be the old Hollywood movies on which the often battered Sixteen Millimetre prints looked like they would be our last glimpse of many notable titles - Litvak's BLUES IN THE NIGHT, George Stevens' MORE THE MERRIER, Boleslawski's THEODORA GOES WILD. Bad guess actually. Though these never made it back onto projection screens, the new commercial TV companies bought three digit studio packages, which turned Australia into the best place in the world to see the early Hollywood sound film for a decade, even if Nancy Carroll and John Gilbert were still ignored by the old Sight & Sound readers, soon joined by the newly minted Sam Fuller fans.

Then as now, there were unfamiliar movies tucked away in under-used libraries. One had a hundred or so US silents, many printed on the original tinted stock from the camera negatives - Sidney Franklin's THE SAFETY CURTAIN, William S. Hart in RETURN OF DRAW EGAN and the William Seiter-Lewis Milestone LISTEN LESTER. Along with, these you could find Gallone's ULTRIMI GIORNI DI POMPEII or the short films of William Cameron-Menzies, Danielle Darrieux in RETOUR À L'AUBE and a raft of intriguing British material - Conrad Veidt in UNDER THE RED ROBE, the Powell-Pressberger SMALL BACK ROOM, Doug Fairbanks in ACCUSED, Cary Grant in THE AMAZING QUEST or George Arliss in DR. SYN. Some of these proved to be unique and would never be seen again.

All this changed brutally. As well as the ASIO spook activity, there was a fear of the Communist world in the local high art circles. Many professionals were alarmed at the humiliation of creative people like Eisenstein and Shostakovich in Russia, where portraits painter teams, combining on group canvases of receptions, were considered to be the peak of Socialist Realism.

Whether Eisenstein was any less humiliated in Hollywood is speculative but concern over control passing from artists to doctrinaire bureaucrats is legitimate. The deterioration of the Czech film, after the ascent ofthe Communists, had been remarkable and, closer to our time, Mainland ownership of Hong Kong film has dropped it from being the world's number two film industry to nowhere. It didn't take long for a mixture of Political Correctness and salaried bureaucracy to stifle the emerging seventies Australian film, either. In fifties Sydney, Neil Gunther's Film User's association set itself up to steer things away from the ubiquitous Soviet bloc material and Andrea, a now forgotten tabloid columnist, ran an item about finding a flier for the Sydney Film Society's screening of a (shock horror) Polish film about YOUNG CHOPIN, on her seat at the Sydney Film Festival. "Non political, non sectarian - I wonder," she fumed.

This was a trigger for much name calling and fingerpointing. Selecting the East German film DER RATDER GÖTTER caused a split in the Sydney Film Society, with Robert J. Connell's dissident faction scurrying off to start their own screenings at Anzac House. I watched all this with some concern. I'd had good nights with Eddie Allison's Realists or the Kings Cross Film Club, as well as the Catholics - not to mention the Christian Anti-Communist League, who had access to a killer library, including Project 20: NIGHTMARE IN RED and Stuart Rosenberg's QUESTION 7. I'd found them all amiable people. The declining Sydney Film Society was a particular concern. The oldest group in the country, it had JohnHeyer, Bruce Beresford and radio writer Colin Free on its board at different times. The Society had imported major films, like LE MILLION and INTOLERANCE, and it was the one group to run regular, open previews of possible material.

I signed on, doing donkey work. To the standards (LAURA, JOURNAL D'UN CURÉ DE COMPAGNE, POTEMKIN with the then new Kruikov score) we added in some of the neglected films and continued to space this with politically sensitive material. The audience seemed as willing to be amused by Stalin as the comic sidekick in LENIN V OKTABRE, as they were prepared to ponder the clerical anguish in Harald Braun's NACHTWACHE (Lutherans and Catholics combine post WW2).

I premiered the LindsayAnderson MARCH TO ALDERMASTON (good cause - dreary film) but never could get Clouzot's MANON (founding Israel) or Mike Curtiz' SANTA FE TRAIL (nasty abolitionists) into the schedule. The Sydney Film Society did manage to draw respectable numbers for unfamiliar work, organised joint showings with other groups, created translations of items like Helmut Kaütner's FILM OHNE TITEL, did 35mm. screenings on MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM and the Germi-Fellini CAMINO DELLA SPERANZA. They utilised collectors, with Don Harkness' copy of the Syd Chaplin CHARLEY'S AUNT a hit. I suspect it was the world's first such group to run any Anthony Mann.

Screenings became more frequent and numbers went back up, though never reaching those of the pre-confrontation days and it outlasted the disintegration of the breakaway group by many years. These disputes were never really about politics. They were about personalities. The Anzac House lot themselves ran DER RAT DER GÖTTER - couldn't find enough German films without it. The Sydney University Film Group dug its heels in against Film Users but refused to support the Sydney Film Society over the even more obvious red baiting.

It all became so acrimonious that many of the people, whose efforts and good will the film societies had coasted on, just went home to their TVs, never to return. It meant an end to the days of a the movement as a lobby of any consequence, though it had generated the Festivals, the AFI and a few of the country's more influential critics. The Sydney specialist film scene's debilitated condition caused the centre to shift to Victoria, where film society types were more interested in the profits of the Melbourne Film Festival which, unlike Sydney, is still going gangbusters. They even sustain a Clayton's Cinémathèque there.

Ten years after, at the height of the Vietnam war, Keith Gow joked about the effect his work with the wharfies film unit would have on his Film Australia security clearance and their unit covering L.B.J.'s motorcade. He said they filmed one of the staff throwing themselves in front of the Presidential limo. No one cared. That was the scariest part of all.

EPILOGUE: David Stratton's Sydney Film Festival inherited a movie called SONS & DAUGHTERS, about the youth movement 'Nam protest in SanFrancisco. Remembering the Andrea incident, the recently bearded director shifted from foot to foot. Everyone over twenty five stormed out in the first ten minutes and the sympathiser audience remaining cheered when Jane Fonda came on, cheered when Joan Baez came on, cheered when the Hells Angels came on - and suddenly went quiet, realising that the Angels were against the protesters and for the war. ("This isAmerica!") The rest of the film played in silence.

It's not easy being trendy.

Barrie Pattison - first appeared in Australian Film Files.

The Film Criticism of Andrew Grossman

Read some of his work at:

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/grossman.html

I particularly liked, "How to Hate Titles Correctly".

Australian Film and the Cultural Cold War

Here's a link to an excellent article I discovered late one night whilst researching the Australian propaganda film, 'Menace' for the 'War Hot and Cold (mostly cold)' program. It inspired me to ask the author, David McKnight, to introduce the program, which he was kind enough to do.

Please check it out. Here's the link:


http://beyondrightandleft.com.au/archives/2005/08/australian_film.html

Transcript of Introduction to The Scarecrow

Hi everyone. Thanks for coming today to this screening of the Kiwi gothic melodrama, The Scarecrow. Being something of a Kiwiphile (I've been to New Zealand four times, mostly to work on The Incredibly Strange Film Festival) I am a great admirer of New Zealand films. During my visits there, I often talk to the locals about movies and inevitably the subject of New Zealand films arises. When I ask them what their favourite New Zealand films are, The Scarecrow is almost always cited as one of the very best.


The film was based on the novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, a musician and writer whose biography sounds like a gothic novel in itself. Born in 1922 in Hawera, Morrieson was an only child, indulged by a doting mother and an elderly aunt. He lived in the same rundown old house his whole life, and never left the town of his birth, except for a few nights spent in Auckland. He was a musician who played in local jazz bands and made a living as a music teacher. He also had a reputation as a drunk and a womaniser, evetually drinking himself to death in 1972.


In the last decade of his life he wrote four novels, the first of which was The Scarecrow. The novel was poorly received in New Zealand at the time of its publication, leading Morrieson to correctly predict that he would be one of those romantic fools who is discovered after his death. The people of his home-town were particularly appalled by Morrieson's morbid themes and cynical attitude,and commented, "Why can't you write about nice things." Anyone who specialises in the gothic will recognise this as a familiar lament.


Posthumous recognition has placed Morrieson among the top rank of New Zealand authors and he is the subject of at least one biography. Several films were made of his work. When his house was set to be demolished there was a modest uporoar among the NZ literati who wanted it preserved. A petition was organised to save the house, but a counter petition, signed by the residents of his old hometown, attracted four times the signatures and the house was demolished. There was still a lot of enmity felt towards him - for what reason - we'll leave to your imagination.


The film that you are about to see was directed in 1981 by Sam Pillsbury. At the time i was considered to be one of the most accomplished New Zealand films ever produced, equalled only by Sleeping Dogs and Goodbye Pork Pie. The cast includes Australian actress Tracy Mann and, in the title role, American actor and horror icon John Carradine, whose career spanned six decades and over four hundred movies. At the time of prodution, Carradine was well into his seventies, crippled by arthritis, and willing to work on any film no matter how shoddy, as long as the cheque cleared, which saw him appear in some of the worst horror movies of all time, including Satan's Cheerleaders, Astro Zombies and the abysmal Frankenstein Island. This was undoubtedly his best work of the period.

Freud describes the uncanny as something that is familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. The German word he uses is unheimlich, which translates into English as the unhomely. I can think of no better way to describe New Zealand, especially as an Australian. It is strangely familiar; the people, the place, the architecture, the type of society, the way of life, yet also strangely unfamiliar, although the unfamiliarity is hard to put your finger on, which only makes it all the more uncanny. There is a strong gothic underbelly to New Zealand, one that Morrieson captures perfectly in The Scarecrow. During my last stay in NZ, a psychotic P (or ice, as it is known in Australia) freak went amok in a 7-11 with a samurai sword. The place is full of stories of bizarre behaviour, grisly murders, and marvellously eccentric characters.

The one gripe that New Zealanders have about Australia is that no one ever visits there. It's all one-way traffic. So having fallen in love with the place, I suggets you consider it as a possible holiday destination. Just remember to stay out of the 7-11s. Enjoy the movie.

A response to A Difficult Double Feature by Pia Santaklaus

Saturdate 11th Auguts 2007

The Vinyl Countdown

Heyl Brett,

While it’s fresh in the mind, some thoughts on today’s ‘Difficult’ Double Feature, WAVELENGTH (1967) & VINYL (1965).

I enjoyed both films and could sit through them again, WAVELENGTH being the preferred of the two. My interpretations follow; you may find them off this planet...please consider:

It’s a very long stretch, but I suspect the crux of Michael Snow’s WAVELENGTH is to make the viewer aware (in a most surreal fashion) of the plight of the endangered whales. Stay with me:

“No one I think is in my tree; I mean it must be high or low...
That is you can’t, you know, TUNE IN but it’s all right.
That is I think it’s not too bad.
Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to...”

By 1966, as whale-watching became popular, member nations of the International Whaling Commission banned whaling of some species in the North Pacific to protect them as numbers had severely dwindled.

Canadians have a reputation as staunch environmentalists.

I suspect Michael Snow (The Canadian topical Environmentalist?) understood the urgency of the whales enough to make a film about it…albeit it in his own way.

It was surprising and enchanting to hear a segment from the Beatles’ STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER as part of the movie soundtrack. I suspect Michael Snow (The Artist) appreciated the Beatles increasingly avant-garde output. Strawberry Fields is not traditional guitars and drums…the sounds include mellotrons, tape loops, eastern instrumentation and pitch-shifting experiments.

I assume Michael Snow used the song without official clearance from The Beatles as actual Beatles recordings are rarely, if ever, permitted for such porpoises (Ha!). In this new context, Strawberry Fields sounds even more alien, further compressed effectively by poorly positioned(?)/inadequate microphone(s).

I think Michael Snow deliberately placed STRAWBERRY FIELDS near the outset of the film offering bewildered viewers a map/introduction/explanation/instruction to the underlying meaning of his movie. Looking closely at the Beatles’ lyric...

Most likely, the Beatles’ phrase “it must be high or low” relates to a frequency and is taken up by Snow, translated via various evolving frequencies in his movie, particularly sound waves and their wavelengths. (A Wavelength is inverse proportional with the frequency).
Even the apartment is shot from such an angle that you can’t “know” whether it’s on the ground floor or on a higher level up in the building...still, we see ambiguous movement outside...“it must be high or low” [long shot].

The Beatles’ phrase “TUNE IN” and the movie title “WAVELENGTH” go hand in hand.

I won’t underplay Snow’s decision to use Strawberry Fields in the movie.

A very complex and haunting recording for the times (Released Feb 67, Lennon had written it in Spain in Dec 1966 during down-time from filming Richard Lester’s HOW I WON THE WAR), Michael Snow must have moved incredibly quickly in order to capture this very-recently released Beatles song on film.

Apparently Snow also filmed WAVELENGTH during December 66.

Incredibly, Lennon actually used the word “WAVELENGTH” on the earliest unreleased studio demo version of STRAWBERRY FIELDS where he sings:

“No one is on my wavelength, I mean, it’s either too high or too low;
That is you can’t you know, tune in...”

I wonder if and how the Canadian Michael Snow knew of Lennon’s unavailable demo. It seems impossible! The Beatles official, released version of STRAWBERRY FIELDS does NOT include the word ‘wavelength’.

How did Snow pick up the good vibration? Wavelengths were in the air...What a fluke!

In order to get to the main point of the movie (WHALES), the film progresses slowly over time, through a series of repeating units of sound, colour and light, ranging at first from cool, low, wavelengths, gradually heating up, zooming in, tightening...colours get ever-hotter (at one point they seemed white hot...even the yellow chair looks white). Michael Snow manipulates sound through a series of electronic noises to capture/offer life and intimacy where there are mostly only inanimate objects to be seen.

For most of the movie, life is where you cannot see it. The viewer cannot view humanity. Instead, the still-life objects in the room begin to take on living characteristics. The yellow chair and the telephone on the table become very real characters...with the film soundtrack they seem to be talking to us. (Although one buzzing noise might be a fly hiding beneath the phone on the table as we creep towards it – Ha!).

As a subplot, we hear something like gunshots in the distance...a man stumbles in, falls down, a lady spots him and fears he is dead...she talks into/with the telephone (by now such an object of focus that we are almost becoming acquainted with it), while the soundtrack builds to ever tighter wavelengths, melding a score from new forms such as bells, whistles, alarms and sirens - appropriate seeing there’s a man possibly dead in this “living” room. (Living-room).

We focus more and more towards the ultimate shot. Everything else falls away and is passed...no more distractions...we are faced with Michael Snow’s subliminal and ultimate point...The surface of the ocean! (in a photograph on the wall)...

We expect to somehow keep breaking through to submerge...We may again recall The Beatles’ earlier singing “Let me take you down”, but the image of the ocean surface cannot visibly break. We cannot go below from here...However Snow’s message keeps evolving aurally if we use our imagination. Keep watching. Keep Listening. You can still hear what’s going on below...
I wonder if you could see/hear whales vocalizing from a thousand miles away, (beneath the ocean surface), sending oscillations all the way to this still/dead room. LISTEN to the soundtrack. One might identify whale-song in place. Considered by some (far-out, trippy, greenie folk types) the most beautiful songs on Earth, perhaps WAVELENGTH considers the importance of whales by juxtaposing whale song with Beatle song.

Some points on WHALESONG: Whale songs have been sent into space to represent Earth.
Humans and whales produce sounds differently. Humans use larynx and vocal chords, whales make wavelengths of sound with air vibrating through tissue in the head. Unlike humans, whales don’t necessarily have to exhale to produce sound. Researchers have found that whales from similar geographical regions sing similar songs whilst whales from other areas sing very different songs.

Wow! Freaky n’ far fetched? Too much? I don’t know.

……………………………………………………………………………………

Now quickly to Andy Warhol’s VINYL, I didn’t know what to expect…its legend keeps growing. I found it mostly aggressive and opportunistic.

As a man of 42 living in Sydney in 2007, it still felt confronting. One can only begin to imagine its impact on a conservative audience of 1965. Warhol often forced and shocked his way to fame and for that I have never particularly respected or liked him (much like Yoko Ono).

Regardless, this 1965 film with poor acting and huge shortcomings, seems to have been extremely influential. I don’t know whether Kubrick ever watched it, but I’m willing to bet he did. I even think that Warhol’s Vinyl had a deep and profound effect on Kubrick. Not only did Kubrick go on to make his own A Clockwork Orange, but years later, for his final movie (Eyes Wide Shut), Kubrick used actors like doppelgangers of those used by Warhol in 65.

Take a closer look at Victor the ‘star’ of Vinyl (Gerard Malanga - particularly his left profile). How much does Tom Cruise resemble him? Same eyebrows, nose, mouth, chin and stocky body shape…An uncanny and incredible resemblance! Kubrick also employed Nicole Kidman; although not facially identical, has the poise, slenderness, fairness-of-skin, moderate acting ability and tight sculpted neatness-of-hair as Edie Sedgwick.

Kubrick mirrored the mismatched Malanga and Sedgwick in Warhol’s Vinyl with the equally mismatched Cruise and Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut.

Perhaps Kubrick was perversely trying to relive Warhol’s own directing experience.
I really can imagine an old Stanley K. trying to relive a slice of Warhol’s 1965 life with his very own Malanga & wafer-thin Sedgwick.

Re- Sedgwick, Warhol always believed the masses would appreciate a bunch of boys more if they were garnished with the presence of a charismatic female. (He recruited Nico to front an all-male Velvet Underground). For Vinyl, Warhol obviously used Edie Sedgwick to light up the foreground. Sedgwick looks like an “Extra” with a very important role; slim, well-groomed, the newcomer sits propped-up majestically to fill the foreground and supplement the action…obviously the male lead of the story wasn’t enough.

The music Warhol chose for Vinyl included at least a couple of gems from the then-current British invasion. The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time” and the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting” link thematically…perhaps Warhol is sending out a message to one of his own. Perhaps he just had a crush on Jagger…who knows.

Oh, I also thought J.D.McDermott (the Cop) looked a bit like actor Richard E Grant (Withnail and I)

I’m not sure if anyone has picked up on this, but it seems Warhol was surrounded by the letter V: Vinyl, Victor, Velvet Underground, Viva, Utra-Violet, he suffered from St Vitus’ Dance, he was shot by Valerie Solanas…

Even his own name ‘Warhol’ is pronounced Vorhola in parts of Europe…(like Wagner is pronounced Vargner)

See ya on Saturdaze…

A response to The Cool World by Pia Santaklaus

06 Augmented 2007

Hey n' Hi Brett…Again, one is inspired to write you a few lines. I didn’t expect to like this movie, but tonight’s Cinemateque feature, THE COOL WORLD (1963) [directed by Shirley Clarke], left me far more impressed and refreshed than I expected to be. It was infinitely better than I anticipated. As far as the art of good movie-making goes, I believe Shirley Clarke has created a great example with this excellent piece. I realize now that it is a most underrated work.

S.C has managed to cram so much vision and reality into this vanguard movie. Her eye for detail is astonishing. My mind boggles at how much she achieved so long ago without the benefit of today’s super-resources and technologies. She even extracted ultra-natural performances from the actors. At times I forgot it was a fictional piece.

I came away from it with a real sense that I’d just witnessed a genuine slice of the cross section of a people in the underbelly of an era that carried the seeds responsible a decade earlier for having inspired a hungry, white, awed boy called Kerouac (who desperately wanted to be black and understood their “coolness”) to invent white cool as we know it…further on, around this very period and while THE COOL WORLD was being shot, a ‘freewheelin’ Bob Dylan also knew their worth, following in Kerouac’s footsteps. It was so exciting to witness this time-capsule from the early 60s East-coast-USA in jazzy B&W. At one point we were driving through Greenwich Village and I realized that a young Dylan was actually somewhere there, in the vicinity, at the time, in some small, real dive. It blew me away. The current existing cars, clothes, dust, music, backdrops…the whole thing!

These blacks and their ilk, like their fathers and their ilk, provided the basis of cool attitude that moved the Beats to imitate them. I wonder if there are any movies of the same period that might portray in a similar realistic aesthetic the white outcasts and hipsters of society.

Interestingly, such desperate violent undercurrent in parts of America were being mirrored and building in the UK simultaneously. During this period (63), even a young Andrew Loog Oldham (soon to manage The Rolling Stones) was being massively inspired by the book of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and would later try to buy the rights to use it as a movie vehicle for the Stones. It’s all part of a connected web as the youth of the UK were digging US jazz and Beat poetry at the time. I’m so impressed by Shirley Clarke’s force. I can see how her independence, strength of vision and dedication to pure messages probably rubbed the conservative movie industry the wrong way and so they ignored her, robbing her of great kudos. Good choice of movie Brett.

A response to Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment by Pia Santaklaus

02 Julikeit? 2007

Hey Brett,

I just witnessed Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment and thought to comment.

It amazes me how alike movies of a particular time and place can feel...This one had a pre-BEDAZZLED (1967) atmosphere. These try-hard, home-grown, don’t-be-late-for-tea, British, Psychedelicious, faux-surreality moments are strangely enjoyable to me and still quite irksome; Perfect in their own way.

I believe this movie was made in 1966 (not ‘68 as adverteased)..the B&W presentation might suggest it and the fact that it’s still tinged with too much sweetness to be made in harder-edged ’68.

David Warner was excellent in his first big main-man role, but it's kind of obvious that he could never be much bigger as a star, seeing as his appeal would fit the league limited to such actors of dry-delivery as Peter Cook whose aura seems to be a mirror with Warner's.

David Warner, in his soft coiffed Beatlesque hair, long-square face and ectomorph body with drainpipe pants, big jumper and revolutionary hat, REALLY resembled Peter Cook. (Don’t you think?). Nuff!

While watching MORGAN! I wondered if perhaps a cinema-going genius like The Kinks’ Ray Davies happened to see this movie at the cinema or perhaps a little later on the “Tellie” at home.
I suspect this movie may have inspired him to write his 1970 smash hit APEMAN.

His lyrics include:

“I think I’m sophisticated cos I’m Living my life like a good homosapien...
“I’m no better than the animals sitting in their cages...
“Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an apeman..
“I don’t feel safe in this world no more...
“I’m an ape man, I’m a KING KONG man...etc
““In man’s evolution, he has created the cities and the motor traffic rumble
“But give me half a chance and I’d be taking of my clothes and living in the jungle...
“Come and love me, be my ape man girl and we will be so happy in my apeman world...etc
“Oh I’ll be your TARZAN, you’ll be my Jane...etc
“I want to sail away to a distant shore...etc

Whatcha think? The movie had all those elements, including old footage of King Kong and Tarzan. That song would make a great soundtrack over the end credits of a modern remake. HA!

Anywhooo, must run...Thanx again. Twas fun and goodsomely great.

Paul

Transcript of Introduction to "A Difficult Double Feature" 11/8/7

Afternoon everyone and welcome to the Chauvel Cinematheque for this difficult double feature of Michael Snow's Wavelength and Andy Warhol's Vinyl. I've borrowed the term "difficult' from contemporary classical or art music circles (thanks Mr. X) where it's used to describe challenging works of art. There is a sort of hierarchy of difficulty. The word "advanced" is used to describe works that are a little challenging, while the word "difficult" is used to describe works that are a lot challenging. Beyond that, there's "impenetrable", a word used to describe works that resist engagement or interpretation. I do hope today's screening won't be too impenetrable. You could also say these films are somewhat "medicinal", as they may taste horrible going down, but they make you feel better afterwards.


At my most cynical, I sometimes think that narrative films are nothing more than bedtime stories; cosy, comforting tales of heroes and villains that lull and reassure the viewer to sleep, placing them in the position of a child, and creating a relationship with the film akin to that of a child and a parent. Difficult films matter because they attempt to transform this relationship into a more adult one, where the film and the viewer are on equal terms. They engage the intellects instead of the emotions and elevate film to the level of sophistication found in modern art, sculpture and music.


In every cinematheque program, I try to program at least one difficult film. Wax, or the Discovery of Television among the Bees, that was pretty difficult, Harry Smith's Heaven and Earth Magic - that was very difficult, but today's films, will likely be the most difficult screenings of all. It is with some trepidation that I programmed these films. They were both films I was thinking of programming but decided against it for fear they would be too alienating. However, when I asked for suggestions for the new program, these two films were the two most requested, so if you don't like them you only have yourselves to blame. I like to think of myself as a showman. I like to put on a good show, and have people enjoy themselves. That's not to say you can't enjoy yourselves watching these films, but it's a different kind of enjoyment to the pleasures of narrative cinema.


I feel like I should give you something to work with here, some food for thought, something to mull over as you watch these films, but to do so runs the risk of misleading you, or sending you in the wrong direction, because ultimately the meaning of these films, especially Wavelength, is entirely subjective, even impossible. To be honest, I don't understand what this film is about anyway. I've read many articles, reviews and essays on wavelength, and none of them seem to understand it either. Instead, I will quickly sketch out some biographical and production details for both films.



The first film today, Wavelength, was directed by Canadian filmmaker Michael Snow in 1966 and released in 1967. Snow was a multidisciplinarian: artist, painter sculptor, jazz musician and filmmaker. He received the Canadian equivalent of an OBE and an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne in France, the first artist to do so since Picasso. After watching Wavelength you may think to yourself - Gee, is it that easy? Snow is held in great esteem in Canada and elsewhere and this work was a big influence on the development of underground and experimental film, video art and installation based art.


Snow describes his work as "philosophical toys". He claims wavelength was informed by a spiritual impulse, and it is indeed a mandala-like object for meditation. The idea being that if you stare at something long enough, you will begin to see what's there, the implicit nature of the thing, if you like. Anyone who has ever sat and stared at a painting for forty five minutes will likely enjoy this film. For the rest of you, it's not too late to catch the Dixie Chicks playing in Cinema two.

The second film today is Andy Warhol's Vinyl, a very minimalist adaptation of the Anthony Burgess novel, A Clockwork Orange. Vinyl was produced in 1965, four years before Kubrick's adaptation. I'm sure you are all familiar with Kubrick's version of the film so you may have some fun noticing the similarities,if any. Apparently, Kubrick had seen and admired both films. The last shot in The Shining (a slow track into a photo of Jack Nicholson) has been referred to as Wavelength-lite. Similarly, the opening shot in Kubrick's version of Clockwork... bears resemblance to the opening of the Warhol version. It has been said that Wavelength is the fruit of Warhol's anti-aesthetic, yet the films are very different, despite their minimalist production strategies.

In closing, I'd just like to say that if you do find yourself bored by these films, it could be worse. I could have screened Warhol's Sleep, an eight hour film consisting entirely of a sleeping figure, or Empire, a twenty four hour film consisting of nothing but a shot of the Empire State Building.


Thanks a lot. Enjoy the films.

This is Len's blog

I googled myself (go on... admit it, you've done it) to find the text for the article below and turned up this excellent film blog, Oh What a World, from cinematheque member, Len. Thanks Len - you rock! Please check it out.

www.old-whores-diet.blogspot.com