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…
Showing posts with label Wavelength. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wavelength. Show all posts
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Sunday, 12 August 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
SPRING 2007 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
Saturday screenings commence at 1pm.
Monday screenings commence at 7pm.
Mailing list and enquiries: brettgarten@iprimus.com.au
Sat 4/8 & Mon 6/8 THE COOL WORLD
The Cool World USA/1963/B&W/106mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A 14 year old boy needs a gun so that he can become the leader of his gang in this study of black teenagers in Harlem.
Bridges Go Round USA/1958/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A poetic close-up view, using multiple superimpositions, of a giant metropolitan bridge, first with a soundtrack of electronic music, second with a jazz soundtrack.
Sat 11/8 & Mon 13/8 A DIFFICULT DOUBLE FEATURE
Wavelength Canada/1967/Colour/45mins/16mm Dir: Michael Snow. Made with outdated and deteriorated film stock, 'Wavelength' is a continually changing experience of cinematic illusion and anti-illusion. One of the most acclaimed avant garde films of all time.
Vinyl USA/1965/B&W/66mins/16mm Dir: Andy Warhol. A minimalist adaptation of A Clockwork Orange that predates Kubrick by several years, Vinyl is a series of explorations of sexual taboos. Gerard Malanga dances and performs with chains while Edie Sedgwick assumes the position of the viewer.
Sat 18/8 & Mon 20/8 UNDERGROUND CAMP
Puce Moment USA/1949/B&W/8mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A Hollywood star goes through the ritual of assuming an identity - from a planned feature on Hollywood in the twenties.
Flaming Creatures USA/1963/B&W/43mins/16mm Dir: Jack Smith. Ten scenes of uncertain polymorphously perverse sex accompanied by nostalgic and repetitive music filmed on often murky and over-exposed film stock, minimally edited with deliberately obscured boundaries between the scenes. Susan Sontag has rightly described Smith's film as 'too full of pathos and too ingenuous to be prurient'.
Kustom Kar Kommandos USA/1965/Colour/4mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A ritual to the point of fetishism carried out by the builder of a 'dream buggy'.
Hold Me While I’m Naked USA/1966/Colour/15mins/16mm Dir: George Kuchar. A mix of lurid melodrama, personal reflections and overblown, or sad, music. Effective as both a melancholy diary of frustration and a powerful pastiche. Said to be a major influence on John Waters.
Blonde Cobra USA/1963/B&W & Colour/33mins/16mm Dir: Ken Jacobs, Bob Fleischner and Jack Smith. A reworking by Jacobs of film and sound tape abandoned by the filmmakers. The original intention was to make a 'light monster movie comedy' in two separate stories. Jacob's film is a fragmented weave of sound and image designed to undermine the viewer's expectations regarding sound/image relationships in a narrative.
Eclipse of the Sun Virgin USA/1967/Colour/12mins Dir: George Kuchar. A follow-up to Hold Me While I'm Naked described by Kuchar as 'a chilling montage of crimson repression'.
SAT 25/8 & MON 27/8 SEX & HYGIENE
Educational films that reflect the changing attitudes to sex education from the 40s to the 80s, including:
For Your Information Canada/1940/B&W/20mins/16mm. A Royal Canadian Air Force educational film for women discussing the effects of venereal disease.
Human Reproduction USA/1947/B&W/20mins/16mm. Though this sex education film concentrates on presenting the anatomy and physiology of human reproduction in sober medical terms, its release kicked off a controversy in many American cities and towns over the legitimacy of sex education in public schools. The film is narrated from the point of view of an adult who tries to decide how to answer his son's natural questions about sex and reproduction. With excellent diagrams of the reproductive process. “A very enlightening film.” www.archives.org
How Billy Keeps Clean USA/1951/B&W/11mins/16mm. Dir:
Shows young, active boys how to play hard yet keep clean by learning how to wash, when to wash, and how keeping clean helps to make a person better liked and healthier.
Dance, Little Children USA/1961/Colour/28mins/16mm Dir: Herk Harvey. From the Kansas Board of Health and the director of the cult classic Carnival of Souls comes this nightmarishly comic vision about how a craze for the Twist causes a syphilis epidemic in small town America. “Especially hilarious” Phil Bacharach, DVD Talk
Vasectomy USA/1972/Colour/17mins/16mm Dir: Several men who have had or will have vasectomies discuss their fears of and reasons for undergoing this operation. Animated diagrams are used to describe the procedures involved.
Condom Sense USA/1981/Colour/25mins/16mm Dir: Steve Faigenbaum. A series of comic vignettes dealing with myths about condoms is interwoven with a story about two young lovers and their conflicts over birth control. Produced before public attention was brought to the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
Sat 1/9 & Mon 3/9 FILMS ABOUT SCIENCE
End of One USA/1970/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Paul Kocela. A camera records the last moments of a seagull on a polluted beach.
Primitive Man in a Modern World USA/1969/Colour/23mins/ 16mm Dir: Christian propaganda masquerading as anthropology from the Moody Institute of Science. “What were they thinking?” www.laughingsquid.com “Wholly undesirable for student viewing at any level.” American Anthropologist
Hippocampe (The Sea Horse) France/1934/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Jean Painleve. Painleve was a trained biologist who experimented with the photography of underwater life, bringing a surreal quality to the natural world.
Flatland USA/1965/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Eric Martin. An animated mathematical allegory based on Edwin Abbot’s great Victorian fantasy about a square who discovers the third dimension, but is imprisoned by the inhabitants of the two dimensional world when he tries to preach three dimensionality.
Our Friend the Atom USA/1958/Colour/50mins/16mm Dir: Hamilton Luske. Produced by Disney in cooperation with the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics, builders of the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, Our Friend The Atom relates the history of atomic energy in a combination of live-action and animation.
Sat 8/9 & Mon 10/9 TOP 12 AMERICAN CARTOONS
A 1994 poll of animation professionals produced this top 12:
1. What's Opera Doc? USA/1957/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Parody of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" with Elmer Fudd in the role of Siegfried and Bugs
Bunny in drag as Brunhilde.
2. Duck Amuck USA/1953/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones.
Daffy versus an off screen animator in this humorous essay by demonstration on the nature and conditions of the animated film and the mechanics of film in general.
3. The Band Concert USA/1935/Colour/10mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. Despite interference from a persistent bee, a noisy Donald Duck playing Turkey in the Straw, and a full scale whirlwind, Mickey's band doggedly performs the William Tell Overture.
4. Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century USA/1953/Colour/7min/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Duck Dodgers (Daffy) is sent to Planet X to find a new source for the Earth's dwindling supply of the shaving cream atom, Aludium Q-36.
5. One Froggy Evening USA 1955 Colour; Sound; 7 minutes Director, Chuck Jones. A man discovers a singing frog and spends his savings promoting him as a theatrical show with disastrous consequences.
6. Gertie the Dinosaur USA/1909/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Winsor McCay. McCay bets a friend he can bring a museum's dinosaur to life by means of a series of drawings.
7. Red Hot Riding Hood USA/1943/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A wolfish Hollywood hipster loses all control when he catches sight of Red Riding Hood, a shapely cabaret singer.
8. Porky In Wackyland USA/1938/B&W/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Clampett. Porky pursues the Dodo bird through Wackyland. This is a Clampett classic with 'some of the screwiest gags, characters and concepts in animation history'.
9. Gerald McBoing Boing USA/1950/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Cannon. An adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story about a young boy who makes sounds instead of words.
10. King Size Canary USA/1947/Colour/8mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A scrawny alley cat's desperate search for food rapidly escalates, with the help of a bottle of Jumbo Gro.
11. Three Little Pigs USA/1933/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Burt Gillett. This retelling of the traditional story was a morale booster when it was released in the depths of the Depression.
12. The Old Mill USA/1937/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. An early Disney colour animated cartoon about birds and animals living happily in a deserted old windmill. Their peace and comfort are disturbed by a violent storm. The Disney style is fully developed at this stage.
Sat 15/9 & Mon 17/9 CHARLIE IS MY DARLING
American Music from Folk to Jazz to Pop USA/1969/Colour/ 46mins/16mm Dir: Traces the roots of popular music in America today. Includes performances by The Dave Clark Five and The Supremes and commentary by Richard Rogers and Duke Ellington.
De Da de Dum Australia/1968/19mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Garry Shead. An experimental documentary about artist/poet/novelist/ singer Pip Proud who, at the time the film was made, was being feted as an Australian underground superstar.
Beatles clips Early music clips and TV appearances.
Charlie is My Darling UK/1966/B&W/46mins/16mm Dir: Peter Whitehead. The first Rolling Stones movie, Charlie… combines concert footage of the Rolling Stones tour of Ireland in 1965 with backstage interviews.
Sat 22/9 & Mon 1/10 FRENCH DOCOS & SHORTS
Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) France/1952/Colour&B&W/
32mins/16mm Dir: Alain Resnais Black and white archival footage of German concentration camps in World War II is intercut with colour shots of the camps as they were in 1956 to create a moving counterpoint of present and past.
Le Maitre Fous (The Crazy Masters) France/1954/Colour/30mins/
16mm Dir: Jean Rouch. A disturbing documentary about the West African religious sect called Haouka. The rituals of the sect are parodies of the military and diplomatic ceremonies of British colonial rule, raising questions about the psychic effect of western civilization on African cultures.
Pacific 231 France/1949/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Jean Mitry. Mus: Arthur Honnegger. A visual interpretation of Honegger's musical impression of a fast train hauled by the powerful Pacific 231.
L’Opera Mouffe France/1960/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Agnes Varda. Personal and affectionate portrait by Agnes Varda of the market and slum area of Paris known as 'la Mouffe'.
La Premiere Nuit (The First Night) France/1958/B&W/20mins/ 16mm Dir: Georges Franju. A nocturnal reverie woven around a young boy's escape to the Paris Metro for a night.
La Belle Cerebrale (Beautiful Dreamer) France/1967/Colour/ 14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Foldes. A naked girl chews a pear and paints her toenails while two men argue in the background. As she daydreams, a wig emerges from a drawer to caress her, flowers bloom in her hair, and a box opens to decorate her with jewellery.
Sat 29/9 & Mon 1/10 A PYTHON IN THE BOARDROOM: THE CORPORATE TRAINING FILMS OF JOHN
CLEESE
John Cleese co-founded Video Arts in 1971 to create training films for business purposes. Rarely seen outside their workplace context, these films are a must for fans of comedy, Monty Python and middle management.
Who Sold You this Then? UK/1972/23mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese is Charlie Jenkins, the Service Engineer. Shows how he can destroy the reputation of his company and its products every time he talks to a customer. With John Cleese, Madge Ryan, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna.
Meeting of Minds UK/1973/Colour/14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A lesson in how best to handle customers. Highlights the barriers put up by both the customer and the salesperson. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth, Angharad Rees, June Whitfield, John Barron.
In Two Minds UK/1973/Colour/18mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A basic training course for all staff who deal face to face with customers in any service industry. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth
It's All Right, It's Only a Customer UK/1973/Colour/29mins/ 16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese plays four different Herberts - head office employees who have lost touch with the real world and are living in a world of their own. With Ronnie Barker.
Man Hunt UK/1974/Colour/32mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. Outlines how and how not to conduct interviews. Shows where and how the three principal faults occur. John Cleese plays the three managerial types who exemplify these faults, Ethelred the Unready, Ivan the Terrible and William the Silent.
Sat 6/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: DAISIES
Daisies Czechoslovakia/1966/76mins/35mm Dir: Vera Chytilová. Two girls go on an anarchic rampage, joyously exploiting a string of hapless men that get in their way. Imported 35mm print.
Mon 8/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS
Valerie and her Week of Wonders Czechoslovakia/1970/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jaromil Jires. Magical earrings are the link to a fantasy world of vampires, priests, grandmothers & carnival parades. Imported 35mm print. “Virtually every shot is a knock-out.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader.
Sat 13/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: LATE AUGUST AT THE HOTEL OZONE & JOSEF KILIAN
Late August at the Hotel Ozone Czechoslovakia/1967/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jan Schmidt. In a post-apocalyptic world where the male species has seemingly disappeared, nine Amazonian women try to survive, spending their time foraging for food and hunting animals, until one day they encounter a man the last man on earth in possession of a most interesting object.
Josef Kilian Czechoslovakia/1963/38mins/35mm Dir: Pavel Jurácek & Jan Schmidt. Regarded as one of the finest evocations of Kafka, this darkly comic film follows a young man who wanders the streets of old Prague and encounters a "cat rental" shop. Both imported 35mm prints.
Mon 15/10 SORRY, NO SCREENING
Sat 20/10 & Mon 22/10 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE KUNG FU FILM
Join Barrie Pattison, Australia’s leading film historian, in this special multimedia presentation on the development of the Chinese martial arts film from the silent era to the present day.
Mon 29/10 Only THE GURU
UK/1968/Colour/16mm Dir: James Ivory. A jaded British pop star visits India to learn the sitar in this thinly veiled satire of George Harrison’s Indian odyssey. Plus Sai Baba.
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
Saturday screenings commence at 1pm.
Monday screenings commence at 7pm.
Mailing list and enquiries: brettgarten@iprimus.com.au
Sat 4/8 & Mon 6/8 THE COOL WORLD
The Cool World USA/1963/B&W/106mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A 14 year old boy needs a gun so that he can become the leader of his gang in this study of black teenagers in Harlem.
Bridges Go Round USA/1958/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Shirley Clarke. A poetic close-up view, using multiple superimpositions, of a giant metropolitan bridge, first with a soundtrack of electronic music, second with a jazz soundtrack.
Sat 11/8 & Mon 13/8 A DIFFICULT DOUBLE FEATURE
Wavelength Canada/1967/Colour/45mins/16mm Dir: Michael Snow. Made with outdated and deteriorated film stock, 'Wavelength' is a continually changing experience of cinematic illusion and anti-illusion. One of the most acclaimed avant garde films of all time.
Vinyl USA/1965/B&W/66mins/16mm Dir: Andy Warhol. A minimalist adaptation of A Clockwork Orange that predates Kubrick by several years, Vinyl is a series of explorations of sexual taboos. Gerard Malanga dances and performs with chains while Edie Sedgwick assumes the position of the viewer.
Sat 18/8 & Mon 20/8 UNDERGROUND CAMP
Puce Moment USA/1949/B&W/8mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A Hollywood star goes through the ritual of assuming an identity - from a planned feature on Hollywood in the twenties.
Flaming Creatures USA/1963/B&W/43mins/16mm Dir: Jack Smith. Ten scenes of uncertain polymorphously perverse sex accompanied by nostalgic and repetitive music filmed on often murky and over-exposed film stock, minimally edited with deliberately obscured boundaries between the scenes. Susan Sontag has rightly described Smith's film as 'too full of pathos and too ingenuous to be prurient'.
Kustom Kar Kommandos USA/1965/Colour/4mins/16mm Dir: Kenneth Anger. A ritual to the point of fetishism carried out by the builder of a 'dream buggy'.
Hold Me While I’m Naked USA/1966/Colour/15mins/16mm Dir: George Kuchar. A mix of lurid melodrama, personal reflections and overblown, or sad, music. Effective as both a melancholy diary of frustration and a powerful pastiche. Said to be a major influence on John Waters.
Blonde Cobra USA/1963/B&W & Colour/33mins/16mm Dir: Ken Jacobs, Bob Fleischner and Jack Smith. A reworking by Jacobs of film and sound tape abandoned by the filmmakers. The original intention was to make a 'light monster movie comedy' in two separate stories. Jacob's film is a fragmented weave of sound and image designed to undermine the viewer's expectations regarding sound/image relationships in a narrative.
Eclipse of the Sun Virgin USA/1967/Colour/12mins Dir: George Kuchar. A follow-up to Hold Me While I'm Naked described by Kuchar as 'a chilling montage of crimson repression'.
SAT 25/8 & MON 27/8 SEX & HYGIENE
Educational films that reflect the changing attitudes to sex education from the 40s to the 80s, including:
For Your Information Canada/1940/B&W/20mins/16mm. A Royal Canadian Air Force educational film for women discussing the effects of venereal disease.
Human Reproduction USA/1947/B&W/20mins/16mm. Though this sex education film concentrates on presenting the anatomy and physiology of human reproduction in sober medical terms, its release kicked off a controversy in many American cities and towns over the legitimacy of sex education in public schools. The film is narrated from the point of view of an adult who tries to decide how to answer his son's natural questions about sex and reproduction. With excellent diagrams of the reproductive process. “A very enlightening film.” www.archives.org
How Billy Keeps Clean USA/1951/B&W/11mins/16mm. Dir:
Shows young, active boys how to play hard yet keep clean by learning how to wash, when to wash, and how keeping clean helps to make a person better liked and healthier.
Dance, Little Children USA/1961/Colour/28mins/16mm Dir: Herk Harvey. From the Kansas Board of Health and the director of the cult classic Carnival of Souls comes this nightmarishly comic vision about how a craze for the Twist causes a syphilis epidemic in small town America. “Especially hilarious” Phil Bacharach, DVD Talk
Vasectomy USA/1972/Colour/17mins/16mm Dir: Several men who have had or will have vasectomies discuss their fears of and reasons for undergoing this operation. Animated diagrams are used to describe the procedures involved.
Condom Sense USA/1981/Colour/25mins/16mm Dir: Steve Faigenbaum. A series of comic vignettes dealing with myths about condoms is interwoven with a story about two young lovers and their conflicts over birth control. Produced before public attention was brought to the AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
Sat 1/9 & Mon 3/9 FILMS ABOUT SCIENCE
End of One USA/1970/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Paul Kocela. A camera records the last moments of a seagull on a polluted beach.
Primitive Man in a Modern World USA/1969/Colour/23mins/ 16mm Dir: Christian propaganda masquerading as anthropology from the Moody Institute of Science. “What were they thinking?” www.laughingsquid.com “Wholly undesirable for student viewing at any level.” American Anthropologist
Hippocampe (The Sea Horse) France/1934/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Jean Painleve. Painleve was a trained biologist who experimented with the photography of underwater life, bringing a surreal quality to the natural world.
Flatland USA/1965/12mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Eric Martin. An animated mathematical allegory based on Edwin Abbot’s great Victorian fantasy about a square who discovers the third dimension, but is imprisoned by the inhabitants of the two dimensional world when he tries to preach three dimensionality.
Our Friend the Atom USA/1958/Colour/50mins/16mm Dir: Hamilton Luske. Produced by Disney in cooperation with the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics, builders of the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, Our Friend The Atom relates the history of atomic energy in a combination of live-action and animation.
Sat 8/9 & Mon 10/9 TOP 12 AMERICAN CARTOONS
A 1994 poll of animation professionals produced this top 12:
1. What's Opera Doc? USA/1957/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Parody of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" with Elmer Fudd in the role of Siegfried and Bugs
Bunny in drag as Brunhilde.
2. Duck Amuck USA/1953/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones.
Daffy versus an off screen animator in this humorous essay by demonstration on the nature and conditions of the animated film and the mechanics of film in general.
3. The Band Concert USA/1935/Colour/10mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. Despite interference from a persistent bee, a noisy Donald Duck playing Turkey in the Straw, and a full scale whirlwind, Mickey's band doggedly performs the William Tell Overture.
4. Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century USA/1953/Colour/7min/16mm Dir: Chuck Jones. Duck Dodgers (Daffy) is sent to Planet X to find a new source for the Earth's dwindling supply of the shaving cream atom, Aludium Q-36.
5. One Froggy Evening USA 1955 Colour; Sound; 7 minutes Director, Chuck Jones. A man discovers a singing frog and spends his savings promoting him as a theatrical show with disastrous consequences.
6. Gertie the Dinosaur USA/1909/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Winsor McCay. McCay bets a friend he can bring a museum's dinosaur to life by means of a series of drawings.
7. Red Hot Riding Hood USA/1943/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A wolfish Hollywood hipster loses all control when he catches sight of Red Riding Hood, a shapely cabaret singer.
8. Porky In Wackyland USA/1938/B&W/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Clampett. Porky pursues the Dodo bird through Wackyland. This is a Clampett classic with 'some of the screwiest gags, characters and concepts in animation history'.
9. Gerald McBoing Boing USA/1950/Colour/7mins/16mm Dir: Robert Cannon. An adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story about a young boy who makes sounds instead of words.
10. King Size Canary USA/1947/Colour/8mins/16mm Dir: Tex Avery. A scrawny alley cat's desperate search for food rapidly escalates, with the help of a bottle of Jumbo Gro.
11. Three Little Pigs USA/1933/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Burt Gillett. This retelling of the traditional story was a morale booster when it was released in the depths of the Depression.
12. The Old Mill USA/1937/Colour/9mins/16mm Dir: Wilfred Jackson. An early Disney colour animated cartoon about birds and animals living happily in a deserted old windmill. Their peace and comfort are disturbed by a violent storm. The Disney style is fully developed at this stage.
Sat 15/9 & Mon 17/9 CHARLIE IS MY DARLING
American Music from Folk to Jazz to Pop USA/1969/Colour/ 46mins/16mm Dir: Traces the roots of popular music in America today. Includes performances by The Dave Clark Five and The Supremes and commentary by Richard Rogers and Duke Ellington.
De Da de Dum Australia/1968/19mins/B&W/16mm Dir: Garry Shead. An experimental documentary about artist/poet/novelist/ singer Pip Proud who, at the time the film was made, was being feted as an Australian underground superstar.
Beatles clips Early music clips and TV appearances.
Charlie is My Darling UK/1966/B&W/46mins/16mm Dir: Peter Whitehead. The first Rolling Stones movie, Charlie… combines concert footage of the Rolling Stones tour of Ireland in 1965 with backstage interviews.
Sat 22/9 & Mon 1/10 FRENCH DOCOS & SHORTS
Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) France/1952/Colour&B&W/
32mins/16mm Dir: Alain Resnais Black and white archival footage of German concentration camps in World War II is intercut with colour shots of the camps as they were in 1956 to create a moving counterpoint of present and past.
Le Maitre Fous (The Crazy Masters) France/1954/Colour/30mins/
16mm Dir: Jean Rouch. A disturbing documentary about the West African religious sect called Haouka. The rituals of the sect are parodies of the military and diplomatic ceremonies of British colonial rule, raising questions about the psychic effect of western civilization on African cultures.
Pacific 231 France/1949/B&W/9mins/16mm Dir: Jean Mitry. Mus: Arthur Honnegger. A visual interpretation of Honegger's musical impression of a fast train hauled by the powerful Pacific 231.
L’Opera Mouffe France/1960/B&W/14mins/16mm Dir: Agnes Varda. Personal and affectionate portrait by Agnes Varda of the market and slum area of Paris known as 'la Mouffe'.
La Premiere Nuit (The First Night) France/1958/B&W/20mins/ 16mm Dir: Georges Franju. A nocturnal reverie woven around a young boy's escape to the Paris Metro for a night.
La Belle Cerebrale (Beautiful Dreamer) France/1967/Colour/ 14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Foldes. A naked girl chews a pear and paints her toenails while two men argue in the background. As she daydreams, a wig emerges from a drawer to caress her, flowers bloom in her hair, and a box opens to decorate her with jewellery.
Sat 29/9 & Mon 1/10 A PYTHON IN THE BOARDROOM: THE CORPORATE TRAINING FILMS OF JOHN
CLEESE
John Cleese co-founded Video Arts in 1971 to create training films for business purposes. Rarely seen outside their workplace context, these films are a must for fans of comedy, Monty Python and middle management.
Who Sold You this Then? UK/1972/23mins/Colour/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese is Charlie Jenkins, the Service Engineer. Shows how he can destroy the reputation of his company and its products every time he talks to a customer. With John Cleese, Madge Ryan, Jonathan Lynn, Bernard McKenna.
Meeting of Minds UK/1973/Colour/14mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A lesson in how best to handle customers. Highlights the barriers put up by both the customer and the salesperson. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth, Angharad Rees, June Whitfield, John Barron.
In Two Minds UK/1973/Colour/18mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. A basic training course for all staff who deal face to face with customers in any service industry. With John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Connie Booth
It's All Right, It's Only a Customer UK/1973/Colour/29mins/ 16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. John Cleese plays four different Herberts - head office employees who have lost touch with the real world and are living in a world of their own. With Ronnie Barker.
Man Hunt UK/1974/Colour/32mins/16mm Dir: Peter Robinson. Outlines how and how not to conduct interviews. Shows where and how the three principal faults occur. John Cleese plays the three managerial types who exemplify these faults, Ethelred the Unready, Ivan the Terrible and William the Silent.
Sat 6/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: DAISIES
Daisies Czechoslovakia/1966/76mins/35mm Dir: Vera Chytilová. Two girls go on an anarchic rampage, joyously exploiting a string of hapless men that get in their way. Imported 35mm print.
Mon 8/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS
Valerie and her Week of Wonders Czechoslovakia/1970/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jaromil Jires. Magical earrings are the link to a fantasy world of vampires, priests, grandmothers & carnival parades. Imported 35mm print. “Virtually every shot is a knock-out.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader.
Sat 13/10 Only CZECH FANTASY RETROSPECTIVE: LATE AUGUST AT THE HOTEL OZONE & JOSEF KILIAN
Late August at the Hotel Ozone Czechoslovakia/1967/77mins/ 35mm Dir: Jan Schmidt. In a post-apocalyptic world where the male species has seemingly disappeared, nine Amazonian women try to survive, spending their time foraging for food and hunting animals, until one day they encounter a man the last man on earth in possession of a most interesting object.
Josef Kilian Czechoslovakia/1963/38mins/35mm Dir: Pavel Jurácek & Jan Schmidt. Regarded as one of the finest evocations of Kafka, this darkly comic film follows a young man who wanders the streets of old Prague and encounters a "cat rental" shop. Both imported 35mm prints.
Mon 15/10 SORRY, NO SCREENING
Sat 20/10 & Mon 22/10 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE KUNG FU FILM
Join Barrie Pattison, Australia’s leading film historian, in this special multimedia presentation on the development of the Chinese martial arts film from the silent era to the present day.
Mon 29/10 Only THE GURU
UK/1968/Colour/16mm Dir: James Ivory. A jaded British pop star visits India to learn the sitar in this thinly veiled satire of George Harrison’s Indian odyssey. Plus Sai Baba.
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