father sun

this is practically the opening shot of 'tommy.' i've seen it hundreds of times... but looking at it just now, i realize that ken must've stood around and waited for the perfect sunset. its not a mat. its not any kind of special effects. (at least none that i've ever heard of.) just robert powell and the sky. and i can even tell its really robert powell. i could pick his shoulders out of a police line up. i don't even think i need to point out the genius of the plain composition. and i've always said that ken russell would've made a great director of silent films. i timed it tonight, and for the first 7:00 full minutes of 'tommy,' there is actually no spoken (or even sung) dialogue. everything is communicated by facial expressions and the lulls and swells in the music. and all of it so artfully done, you almost don't notice the lack of words. honestly, ken proves that sometimes words are entirely unneccsessary. amen.

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.'

alma matters

tonight's spoonful of georgina hale is cool and veiled and gorgeous. its a expertly-captured still from ken russell's 'mahler.' the real alma mahler looked nothing like this, but that matters very little i suppose. she still turns in a smoldering performance. now that i think about it, she's almost more central in the film than robert powell's gustav mahler himself. gerogina has scenes so haunting and inexpressibly beautiful in this film... the sequence of her running across the countryside to quiet cows and crying babies and even an oktoberfest so her husband can get some composing done are almost small films in and of themselves.

blue gene

once again jean-lucien proves an excellent collaborator with a peerless eye. he snatched this moment in 'french connection.' there's a certain sense of storytelling in it. that moment where they take the car apart proves so pivotal. its an almost pornographic sequence. they rip and gut the vehicle...unscrewing and dismantling even the infamous 'rocker panels.' great shot.

it has no name

...many brave men died to bring it here from the galaxy of pleasure. this flashy, gorgeous shot was taken some time ago by jean-lucien. and i needed something orange and totally groovy, so after a paw through my files, i found this. its lovely, and although a mere flicker, it stands on its own as a complete work of art.