SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
August 31st 2006 06:23
In Australia for the first time since it’s controversial release in 1968, French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s documentation of late 60s counter-culture, Sympathy for the Devil (aka One Plus One), should not be missed.
Following the process of creating the revolutionary Rolling Stones single about the Devil’s take on the history of civilisation, it is fascinating to watch it slowly develop into the rambling tempest.
Way back in a time when Keith Richards could string a sentence together, the footage of the Stones in a London recording studio captures a creativity and spirit that is entrancing, and would be worth seeing alone. But to do so would be to miss the point. And that point? That there is no point. The film is a collage of music documentary and political commentary. Song; image; literature; philosophy; poetry; lurid pulp fiction read aloud; and slogans spray-painted on walls, are stylistically layered, to see what one brings out of the next.
While the music has retained its brilliance, time has not been as kind on the political rants. These tangents of the film have been criticised as monotonous and artless didacticism, especially since it’s re-release. Indeed, some of the sketches are shot in a tedious and pretentious way, but it is an incredible documentation of an era that had such a definitive spirit. The innovative structure and brilliant cinematography, especially the very long and beautifully executed tracking one-takes, make it well worth seeing.
If that’s not enough, we all know there’s nothing like a bit of controversy to make a film more sought-after. Godard was so angered at his producer for re-cutting the footage without his permission that he got up on stage during the London Film Festival premiere, punched him, and urged the audience to leave the venue for a nearby screening of his own version. He was particularly infuriated at the producer for renaming the film after the Stones song, for commercial appeal (Godard’s version has the original title One Plus One and is less focused on footage of the band). He also disapproved of having the final version of the track played at the end of the film, because he hadn’t envisaged a neat, chronological story that would be summed up in the final credits. Just as the shots of the character painting political slogans on various surfaces are always cut away before the messages are completed, Godard believed the audience should not have things spelt out to them.
Although the recording studio burnt down and Brian Jones was arrested for cannabis possession during production, details like these are absent. Everything is shown rather than told and the understated style detaches the film from such real-life events, so that the art of it is in the unsaid.
Following the process of creating the revolutionary Rolling Stones single about the Devil’s take on the history of civilisation, it is fascinating to watch it slowly develop into the rambling tempest.
Way back in a time when Keith Richards could string a sentence together, the footage of the Stones in a London recording studio captures a creativity and spirit that is entrancing, and would be worth seeing alone. But to do so would be to miss the point. And that point? That there is no point. The film is a collage of music documentary and political commentary. Song; image; literature; philosophy; poetry; lurid pulp fiction read aloud; and slogans spray-painted on walls, are stylistically layered, to see what one brings out of the next.
While the music has retained its brilliance, time has not been as kind on the political rants. These tangents of the film have been criticised as monotonous and artless didacticism, especially since it’s re-release. Indeed, some of the sketches are shot in a tedious and pretentious way, but it is an incredible documentation of an era that had such a definitive spirit. The innovative structure and brilliant cinematography, especially the very long and beautifully executed tracking one-takes, make it well worth seeing.
If that’s not enough, we all know there’s nothing like a bit of controversy to make a film more sought-after. Godard was so angered at his producer for re-cutting the footage without his permission that he got up on stage during the London Film Festival premiere, punched him, and urged the audience to leave the venue for a nearby screening of his own version. He was particularly infuriated at the producer for renaming the film after the Stones song, for commercial appeal (Godard’s version has the original title One Plus One and is less focused on footage of the band). He also disapproved of having the final version of the track played at the end of the film, because he hadn’t envisaged a neat, chronological story that would be summed up in the final credits. Just as the shots of the character painting political slogans on various surfaces are always cut away before the messages are completed, Godard believed the audience should not have things spelt out to them.
Although the recording studio burnt down and Brian Jones was arrested for cannabis possession during production, details like these are absent. Everything is shown rather than told and the understated style detaches the film from such real-life events, so that the art of it is in the unsaid.
Godard at work (photograph by David Horvitz)
A Quote From Jean-Luc Godard:
"To be or not to be. That's not really a question."
Image: wikipedia
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