Performance

I bought Performance (1968?) on dvd the other day and have been watching it in between the Wimbledon men's finals today (poor Andy). I actually really enjoyed it. There were quite a few moments that were typically sixties: slightly strange, unnaturalistic dialogue that felt of-the-time, the sort of writing that would sound pretentious in a film made today. And then there's the experimental feel of the way they cut it which, in the interview below, is said to have come from the film company rather than the director. Anyhow, I really enjoyed it.

My favourite scene was probably when we first come to the house in Notting Hill and Anita Pallenberg wanders around in a fur coat, filming Mick Jagger in bed, and there's a sequence where they roll around under the covers and the colour and the light is just perfect. I thought the level of sensuality was just right.

There was this lingering sexual vibe throughout the film: in the way the characters interacted with each other and the sadomasichistic overtones of the 'flogging scene'. But I liked the fact that it never came to a climax (in all senses of the word...), like many of today's films that contain gratuitous sex scenes.

And then there was the costumes, the beautifully bohemian apartment the textures, the colours, the light and just the whole aesthetic VIBE of it was brilliant. I would have been more than content to watch Performance if there had been no plot or action at all, just Mick and Anita hagin' out. Sometimes I feel a bit shallow when I watch a film and the main thing I take from it was that it was pretty, or aesthetically pleasing. But then I think: I love art ,and film is, obviously, a very visual medium, and I am a very visual person, so I shouldn't feel bad for liking certain elements, as they contribute to the whole. I think when it comes to art, there is no wrong reasons for liking something, but you should be able to justify your dislikes.

Anywho, I could go on forever, but here are some stills and the afformentioned interview with Mark Radcliffe (yay) and Mark Kermode from 1995. Enjoy!

That bath! This kinda reminds me of The Dreamers