The Corners Of My Mind
James Lileks, in today's Bleat, notes the famous execution of a Vietcong in Saigon wasn't just photographed, but also filmed. How does he know? He saw the footage in the Monkee's movie Head.
Well, yeah, I've seen that. But I first saw the footage years ago at the Ann Arbor 16mm Film Festival in a short called Disco Dog.
The soundtrack of the film consists of disco tunes and, for some reason, the opening riffs to some Stones' songs. But it's the visuals that set this film apart.
The first half of the movie repeatedly shows the eye-slicing scene from Un Chien Andalou. (I don't usually give warnings about links, but if you click on this one, you will see the frame where the eye is being sliced.)
As if that weren't enough, the second half is the guy in Saigon being shot in the head, falling down and having his blood pool in the street, over and over and over.
I later heard the film was shown to clear the auditorium, but I have to admit, I've pretty much forgotten everything I saw at the festival except this.
posted by LAGuy @ 1:15 AM
2 Comments:
We were at the festival with you and both of us vividly remember this film as well. Over the decades since we've tried to pinpoint just why it was so unforgettable, never having reached agreement. And, as you probably recall, it was very effective for clearing the theatre.
I'm glad dori remembers the film as well. There have been times I wondered if it was just a bad dream.
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