wolf

i christened a new book tonight. i haven't written anything in it yet, i just got the cover on. the stars are the recently-featured-by-me hot bohemian couple of mick jagger and anita pallenberg. its from the nicholas roeg-donald cammell masterpiece 'performance.' actually, i don't think this particular shot is ever in the movie. and i know i featured a shot extremely similar to this shot last night. but that doesn't mean the cover is not extremely groovy, if i do say so myself. i already had the word 'wolf ' on hand for other distant reasons, but i decided i liked the archetype (sp?) of the wolf, and all those wild primitave implications of the bloodthirsty threat that might creep up upon the doors of innocence and domestic comforts.... that proverbial 'wolf at the door' that symbolizes a savage threat to a known and comfortable, albiet possibly ignorant, way of life. when you are blissfully sewing by the fire and entertaining thoughts of folly as you thread and stitch a square of linen with a slim silver needle and silken threads... the wolf is lurking, prepared... so lock your doors, gentle maidens. the wolf trots ever closer... closer...

(click to enlarge)

square

...81 powis square, to be exact. this is a lovely shot apparently taken during the filiming of the 1970 donald cammell-nicholas roeg bohemian masterpiece

'performance.' i loved this film even before i saw it, if that's even possible. and, after dozens and dozens of viewings, i still love it, and rank it very high on my list of 'absolute musts.' here we have mick jagger as reclusive ex-pop idol 'turner purple,' lying atop his scandanavian ladyfriend, miss pherba. pherba is played by the sexy and mysterious anita pallenberg. actually, sitting here thinking about it, her character, (and her performance of that character) is far more pivotal to the story than it seems when one watches it. i mean, she's the one who lets chaz in in the first place. she's lovely, and she's blonde, and she seems a little cloudy, but she's no fool. she keenly sees into chaz's 'game' almost before turner does. i love pherba... i love that damn movie. i love this shot. and i love all of you. sigh... (click to enlarge)

mirror mirror

hey, i'm still not exactly raving with inspiration. but i gotta post something... so um, i guess i'm gonna promote one of my favorite films again. yes, jean-lucien took this lush screen capture quite a while ago. its from roeg's hippy masterpiece 'performance.' in this shot we've got, from left to right... anita pallenberg as the hazy pherba, then chaz's half-disguised reflection in the mirror, then turner's (mick jagger's) reflection reading a book, then chaz himself, with the blood of a magic mushroom sluicing through his brain. yeah, by this time in the movie, chaz is submerging so fast he can't make sense of it anymore. psychedelically speaking. i love the silky colors jean-luc found in the grain. he's really got an 'eye.' (but not like the creepy 'eye' in 'clash of the titans.' ) (?) i like the way he manged to get them all in the same shot. you know, i grew up scrutinizing all the 'movie'-related books in all my school and public libraries growing up, and i always marveled at some of the whunky, bland shots that were used to illustrate the text. jean-luc constantly proves to me that, with a little talent, and affection of the subject matter, you can really get some gorgeous, relevant pictures. (click to gorgeously enlarge)

on a nightly basis

wow, i'm getting little too tired to be too clever. and knowing i could probably post shots from

'performance' all day, but this one seemed to stick out because i, like Chaz, have just moved into my new bohemian space. in this shot, the forward Pherba tells him what the price is for...the utilities. hey, get your mind out of the gutter... she's talking about the 'fixtures and fittings.' in any case, i think the shot is luminous and the colors play nicely together. this movie is such a 'coolness' litmus test with me. if someone 'gets,' and i mean really 'gets' this movie, then we've got something very heavy in common. it means (among other things) we speak the same language.

flash bulbs

...and i do mean 'flash.' here is a deep grained shot of mick jagger and anita pallenberg behind the viewfinder. after, please enjoy mick and his barely-legal boys in the fantastic 'memo from turner.'

video: memo from turner- mick jagger -'performance' soundtrack

here is the gritty, psychedelic, somewhat-homoerotic, groovy song from the donald cammell-nicholas roeg film 'performance.' if you dig this, you'll most likely dig the whole thing.

performance

the only performance that makes it, the one that really makes it, that makes it alll the way... is the one that achieves madness... roight? yes this is a production shot from the shockingly cool 1970 film 'performance.' directed by ronald cammell, photographed by the Great Nicholas Roeg, and starring mick jagger, james fox, and anita pallenberg. its groovy, its bloody, its trippy, its sexy... all ingredients for a first-class ride. this lobby card isnt the best shot i could've chosen, i know. it doesn't do the stunning photography justice. and the story is hot and cocky and smart. london underground gangsters... london underground beatniks... with one magnificent musical number. mick launches into the bluesy, raunchy 'memo from turner' somewhere in the second half. its a must. dig it.